No. ... 
Division 
Range 
Skilf.... 
Received  .. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OF 


DANIEL    C.    OILMAN. 


KARDOO, 

THE  HINDOO  GIRL 


BY  HAEEIETTE  G.  BEITTAN, 

/< 

MISSIONABY   SENT   TO    CALCUTTA   BY   THE    "  WOMAN'S   UNION 
MISSION ABY  SOCIETY  OF  AMEKICA  FOE  HEATHEN  LANDS. " 


SECOND  EDITION*. 


NEW  YOKE: 
WILLIAM   B.   BODGE, 

1869. 


ft  4 


ENTERED  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year 
1869,  by  the  WOMAN'S  UNION  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY  OP 
AMERICA  FOR  HEATHEN  LANDS,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the 
District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  Dis- 
trict of  New  York. 


THE  President  of  the  WOMAN'S  UNION  MISSION- 
ARY SOCIETY,  is  Mrs.  T.  C.  DOREMUS,  No.  47  East 
Twenty-first-street,  New  York. 


DEDICATION. 


JO  THEyVLlSSION  JBANDS  OP  THE  « "^OMAN'S  JJNION 
^MISSIONARY  ^OCIETY  OF^MERICA  FOR  J^EATHEN 

JL.ANDS." 

MY  DEAE  YOUNG  FRIENDS:  Knowing  how 
deeply  your  feelings  of  interest  have  been 
excited  towards  the  poor  secluded  women  of 
the  Zenanas  of  India,  I  have  written  in  one 
continuous  story,  a  number  of  incidents  that 
have  come  to  my  knowledge  since  my  sojourn 
in  this  land. 

My  principal  object  has  been  to  give  you 
an  insight  into  the  manners,  habits,  and 
modes  of  life  of  these  poor  heathen  sisters, 
and  to  rouse,  if  possible,  stronger  feelings  of 
love  and  commiseration  towards  them,  than 
you  have  hitherto  possessed.  I  wish  also  to 
interest  many  others  who  have  heretofore 
known  little  and  cared  less  about  these  count- 


4  DEDICATION.- 

less  numbers  of  their  own  sex,  who  are  living 
lives  of  hopeless  degradation,  and  then  sink- 
ing to  eternal  death.  If  this  little  book  shall 
arouse  others  to  join  you  in  your  labor  of 
love,  in  working  and  praying  for  these  poor 
helpless  beings,  one  object  will  be  accom- 
plished. 

I  trust  also  that  by  comparing  your  lives 
with  those  of  Hindoo  girls,  you  will  learn  to 
think  less  of  the  little  privations  you  may 
sometimes  be  called  to  endure,  and  have 
hearts  more  filled  with  gratitude  to  God,  that 
you  were  born  in  a  Christian,  and  not  a  hea- 
then land. 

With  earnest  prayers  that  this  may  be  its 
effect,  I  beg  you  to  accept  this  little  book, 

from 

Your  loving  friend, 

H.  G.  BKITTAN. 

CALCUTTA. 


PREFACE. 


IN  presenting  this  little  book,  illustrative 
of  the  condition  of  heathen  women  in  India, 
to  the  friends  of  our  Mission  work,  but  few 
words  are  needed  to  commend  it  to  their 
kind  interest. 

Its  author  is  the  beloved  and  faithful  mis- 
sionary of  a  voluntary,  undenominational  or- 
ganization of  Christian  women  in  America, 
formed  in  1861:  Appreciating  that  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  alone,  has  placed  the  women  of 
.our  own  favored  land  in  the  happy  and  envi- 
able position  they  occupy,  they  have  sought 
by  the  direct  agency  of  their  own  sex,  to  ele- 
vate and  Christianize  the  women  of  the  East, 
whose  idolatry  and  superstition  have  doomed 
them  to  lives  of  degradation  and  bitterness. 

The  readers  of  the  "  Missionary  Link,"  the 
organ  of  the  "Woman's  Union  Missionary 
Society,"  will  recognize  many  of  the  facts  and 
incidents  of  the  following  pages,  as  they  were 
given  in  the  journal  of  Miss  Brittan.  As  she 


6  PKEFACE. 

lias  been  an  eye-witness  of  many  scenes  sim- 
ilar to  those  she  has  here  portrayed,  we  are 
more  willing  to  assert  in  the  words  of  her 
fellow-laborers,  that  "this  sketch  is  an  unde- 
niably truthful  picture  "  of  the  lives  of  high- 
caste  women  in  the  Zenanas  of  Hindoos. 

The  book  was  written  with  the  desire  that 
its  proceeds  should  be  devoted  to  the  pur- 
chase of  Mission-premises  in  Calcutta,  known 
as  the  "American  Home"  for  the  use  of  the 
missionaries  and  the  work  of  the  "  Woman' » 
Union  Missionary  Society." 

"We  doubt  not  that  each  member  of  our 
"  Mission  Bands  "  to  whom  the  little  volume 
is  dedicated,  will  take  delight  in  owning,  by 
this  means,  one  share  at  least  in  the  "Home" 
which  forms  the  centre  of  our  work  in  India. 
But  we  come  now  to  many  idolized  daugh- 
ters of  Christian  homes,  who  have  little 
thought  of  or  cared  for  their  sex  in  heathen 
countries,  and  ask  if  they  will  not  arouse 
from  the  day-dreaming  and  pleasure-seeking 
which  .have  wrapped  their  souls  in  lethargy, 
and  put  forth  at  least  one  effort  for  those  who 
dwell  "  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death." 

S.  D.  D. 

NEW  YORK,  March,  18C9. 


KARDOO, 
THE  HINDOO  GIRL 


CHAPTEK  I. 

MY  name  is  Karcloo.  What  a  strange 
name,  I  think  I  hear  some  of  you  say. 
Is  it  a  boy's  name  ?  No,  it  is  a  girl's 
name,  but  not  that  of  an  American  child. 
My  home  is  far  away  from  yours,  in  a 
beautiful  country  called  India. 

In  that  country,  as  you  know,  are  the 
highest  mountains  in  the  world,  the  tall- 
est trees,  and  the  most  beautiful  flowers 
and  birds,  with  very. much  to  delight  the 
eye  to  look  upon ;  but  there  is  very  lit- 


8     KAKDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIKL. 

tie  true  happiness  here,  because  very 
few  of  my  people  know  any  thing  about 
the  true  God,  the  "  God  of  love." 

I  have  read  many  stories  of  children 
who  have  lived  in  your  country;  how 
much  care  their  kind  friends  take  of 
them,  how  faithfully  they  are  taught, 
and  especially  how  they  are  told  of  their 
great  Father  God,  who  loves  them  and 
takes  care  of  them,  and  of  the  dear 
Saviour  who  died  for  them,  and  has 
gone  to  prepare  a  home  for  them  in 
heaven. 

When  I  read  these  stories,  I  thought 
perhaps  you  would  like  to  hear  some- 
thing of  the  life  of  a  Hindoo  girl,  for 
there  are  thousands  who  live  just  such  a 
life  as  mine ;  and  then  I  am  sure  you 
will  thank  God  you  were  born  in  a  Chris- 
tian land. 

Well,  as  I  said,  my  name  is  Kardoo. 
My  father  was  a  lawyer,  who  cared  lit- 


KAKDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIRL.     9 

tie  for  his  practice  beyond  the  fame  it 
brought  to  him.  He  was  of  good  caste, 
and  possessed  great  wealth.  He  had 
received  a  good  education,  and  prided 
himself  on  his  learning.  This  I  heard 
from  others.  I  could  not  know  it  my- 
self, because,  being  a  girl,  I  saw  very 
little  of  my  father  after  I  was  four  years 
old.  The  customs  of  our  country  forbid 
females  to  appear  in  the  apartments  of 
the  men,  or  in  the  daytime  a  man  to  be 
seen  in  the  room  used  by  his  wife  and 
children. 

My  father  was  a  tall,  noble-looking 
man,  with  a  grave  expression  of  counte- 
nance. When  I  did  see  him,  he  always 
spoke  kindly  and  pleasantly  to  me  ;  but 
he  never  took  me  up  in  his  arms  and 
kissed  me ;  he  never  set  me  on  his  knee 
and  showed  me  pictures,  or  told  me 
pretty  stories,  as  your  father  does.  No  ; 
I  was  a  girl !  There  was  no  need  for  me 


10         KARDOO,    THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

to  know  any  thing  but  how  to  cook*  and 
to  braid  my  hair.  When  I  was  a  little 
baby  my  father  used  to  pet  me ;  but  as  I 
grew  older,  he  took  less  and  less  notice 
of  me,  and  I  knew  nothing  of  that  beau- 
tiful love  and  respect  a  child  should  have 
for  a  father. 

But  my  mother,  my  dear,  sweet  moth- 
er! how  shall  I  tell  you  of  my  love  to 
her  ?  She  was  a  very  high  caste  woman, 
and  like  many  of  her  caste,  very  fair ; 
her  skin  just  dark  enough  to  give  a  rich, 
warm  glow  to  her  complexion ;  her  eyes 
of  a  liquid  softness,  beaming  with  love 
and  tenderness,  shaded  by  long  silken 
lashes ;  exquisitely  formed  feet  and 
hands ;  and  a  voice  low  and  soft,  whose 
every  tone  was  music.  Such  was  my 
mother— a  being  tender  and  gentle,  with 
a  heart  whose  love  was  deep  and  devo- 

<*  All  women,  even  of  the  highest  caste,  cook  for  their 
Imsbands.     It  is  a  great  disgrace  not  to  be  a  good  cook. 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL.          11 

ted,  and  a  soul  capable  of  strong  reli- 
gious feeling.  0  my  mother,  my  mother! 
would  that  you  had  known  "  the  only 
true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  he 
has  sent !" 

I  had  one  brother,  about  four  years 
older  than  myself.  Two  younger  little 
ones  died,  and  when  I  was  nine  years 
old  another  dear  baby  brother  was  given 
to  us.  Thou  precious  little  one,  of  what 
joy  and  of  what  anguish  wast  thou  the 
cause ! 


12         KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

I  SHOULD  like  to  describe  to  you  the 
house  in  which  I  lived,  "but  I  am  afraid 
I  cannot  set  it  plainly  before  you,  for 
you  have  never  seen  any  thing  like  it 
It  was  large,  built  of  brick,  and  covered 
with  a  thick  white  plaster,  called  chu- 
nam,.made  from  the  powdered  shells  of 
a  small  kind  of  snail.  When  this  is  first 
put  on  the  walls,  it  looks  clean  and 
white,  but  after  one  rainy  season  it  be- 
comes discolored,  almost  black. 

If  you  should  look  at  our  house  on 
the  side  towards  the  street,  you  would 
see  nothing  but  a  high  white  wall,  with 
an  arched  doorway  opening  into  the 
street,  and  above  that,  another  door 
opening  into  a  narrow  verandah  that 
runs  along  the  front  of  the  house.  In 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIEL.          13 

this  verandah  the  babus*  would  sit  of  an 
evening.  In  very  few  of  these  houses  do 
you  see  any  windows,  and  the  few  they 
have,  are  small  and  barred  like  those  of 
a  prison,  instead  of  having  glass.  In  the 
rainy  season  these  windows  are  closed 
by  shutters  on  the  inside. 

You  enter  through  the  lower  door  into 
a  narrow  passage  which  leads  under  the 
house ;  then  you  come  into  a  square 
court,  open  to  the  heavens.  The  house 
is  built  around  this  court  on  each  of  the 
four  sides.  Two  broad  verandahs,  an 
upper  and  a  lower  one,  are  on  three 
sides  of  it.  Into  these  verandahs  a  great 
many  doors  open  from  different  rooms. 
The  lower  rooms  are  used  for  store- 
houses, carriage -houses,  servants,  etc. 
The  upper  rooms  are  used  by  the  babus. 
Some  of  these  are  very  handsomely  fur- 
nished with  matting,  chairs,  carpets, 

*  Balms — native  gentlemen. 


U    KAEDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIRL. 

couches,  pictures,  placed  in  the  greatest 
confusion,  and  rarely  dusted  or  kept 
clean.  Thick  black  cobwebs  hang  every- 
where, it  being  considered  a  sin  to  dis- 
turb a  spider.  Into  this  part  of  the 
house  none  of  the  females  are  permitted 
to  enter  after  they  are  three  or  four 
years  old. 

On  the  fourth  side  there  is  no  upper 
verandah,  the  lower  one  being  much 
higher  and  wider,  having  an  elevated 
roof  like  a  dome,  and  supported  on  large 
pillars.  This  is  a  sort  of  temple,  or  gods' 
house.  It  is  adorned  with  many  chande- 
liers and  with  pictures  of  the  gods ;  and 
here,  at  the  time  of  the  Poojah,  or  feast 
of  the  god,  of  which  I  will  tell  you,  an 
image  of  the  god  is  placed.  At  one  side 
of  this  god's  house,  part  of  the  upper 
verandah  is  screened  off  by  open  cane- 
work,  similar  to  that  which  is  used  for 
chair  seats.  Behind  this  screen,  when 


KARDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          15 

there  are  no  lights,  the  females  of  the 
house  may  place  themselves  at  the  time 
of  any  Poojah  or  tomasha*  to  witness  all 
they  can,  but  never  do  they  join  in  any 
of  the  festivities. 

From  this,  you  go  into  another  passage, 
and  again  you  find  yourself  in  another 
verandah,  running  around  a  second 
square  building,  enclosing  an  open  court, 
smaller  than  the  first  one  I  mentioned. 
This  is  the  women's  part  of  the  house. 
The  lower  part  is  used  for  the  cows, 
cook-rooms,  etc.  The  upper  rooms  are 
used  by  the  women  and  children  of  the 
family.  These  rooms  have  no  windows 
or  doors,  except  those  opening  into  the 
verandah,  so  that  the  women  never  catch 
a  glimpse  of  any  thing  going  on  in  the 
street. 

From  this  court,  the  women's  court, 

> 

*  Toinasha— fun  frolic,  the  term  generally  used  for  any 
amusement, 


16         KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

we  go  through  a  passage  under  the 
house  into  a  spot  of  ground  with  a  high 
wall  around  it,  within  which  is  a  tank  or 
pond,  with  a  few  plantains  and  cocoanut- 
trees  around  it.  This  is  our  only  gar- 
den. Though  this  tank  is  fed  by  a 
spring,  it  gets  very  green  and  muddy  in 
the  dry  season  j  but  when  the  rains  fill 
it  up,  it  is  clean  and  fresh.  However 
green  and  muddy,  the  women  bathe  in 
this  every  day,  for  the  Hindoo  religion 
commands  this  to  be  done. 

Perhaps  you  will  think,  as  the  babus 
have  handsome  things  in  their  rooms, 
they  would  also  give  nice  furniture  to 
adorn  the  rooms  where  the  women  spend 
all  their  lives ;  but  not  so.  The  floors 
are  the  same  as  the  walls,  of  brick  cov- 
ered with  chunam.  On  these  we  sit, 
without  carpet  or  mats,  a  stool  or  chair. 
There  is  a  bedstead,  with  a  mat  cover- 
ing it  for  a  bed,  two  or  three  round, 


KAEDOO,   THE    HINDOO    GIKL.          17 

hard  pillows,  a  box  or  chest  with  a  pad- 
lock, in  which  to  keep  jewels  or  other 
valuables,  and  a  clothes-horse ;  these, 
with  a  brass  lota  or  drinking  vessel,  com- 
plete the  furniture  of  a  room  where  a 
woman  passes  her  life  from  her  birth  to 
her  death,  only  changing  from  her  fa- 
ther's to  her  husband's  house. 

I  had  no  beautiful  garden  to  play  in,  no 
toys,  no  books  to  amuse  me,  no  pleasant 
walks  in  the  fields,  no  school  to  attend. 
None  of  these  things  are  for  Hindoo 
girls.  Oh,  that  you  would  have  thank- 
ful, grateful  hearts  to  God  for  all  his 
good  gifts  to  you  ! 


13          KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIRL. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

Now  that  I  have  tried  to  describe  our 
house,  I  must  tell  you  something  about 
our  way  of  living.  This  large  house 
belonged  to  my  grandfather.  He  had 
six  sons,  my  father  being  the  oldest. 
When  each  of  these  sons  married,  they 
brought  home  their  wives  ;  and  as  all 
marry  very  young  in  our  country,  they 
soon  had  children  of  a  marriageable  age. 
At  one  time  we  had  a  household  of  sev- 
enty people. 

My  own  mother  was  my  father's  sec- 
ond wife.  He  had  married  her  while  his 
first  wife  was  living,  as  she  was  childless. 
It  is  almost  an  unknown  thing  for  a  Hin- 
doo to  take  a  second  wife  while  the  first 
one  is  living,  unless  she  be  childless, 


KABDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIKL.          19 

when  it  is  generally  done.*  The  firs! 
wife  of  my  father  died  before  I  was  born, 
but  I  have  been  told  that  she  suffered 
much  from  jealousy,  and  hated  both  my 
mother  and  her  child. 

I  knew  and  loved  all  my  uncles  bet- 
ter than  I  did  my  father ;  for  younger 
brothers  may  see  their  older  brothers' 
wives,  go  into  their  apartments,  and  con- 
verse with  them  ;  but  an  elder  brother 
may  not  see  his  younger  brother's  wife. 

Every  wife  has  an  apartment  for  her- 
self and  her  children,  though  a  number 
of  us  would  often  sit  together  in  the  ve- 
randah opening  on  the  inner  court.  If, 
however,  by  any  accident,  one  of  the 
husbands  should  be  at  home  in  the  day- 
time, and  wished  to  go  to  his  wife's 
apartment,  he  would  cough,  or  make  a 
great  noise  with  his  feet;  then  every 

°  The  Koolinee  Brahmins  are  an  exception  to  this  rule, 
as  they  sometimes  marry  twenty  or  thirty  women. 


20          KAKDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIKL. 

woman  would  draw  her  veil,  or  chud- 
dah,  over  her  face,  and  fly  to  her  own 
room,  until  he  went  away. 

My  grandfather  was  the  head  of  his 
house,  and  all  the  men  submitted  im- 
plicitly to  his  rule  in  the  direction  of 
their  wives  and  children ;  while  among 
the  women,  my  grandmother,  or  Tuckoo- 
Ma,  as  she  was  called,  was  supreme,  no 
one  daring  to  dispute  her  commands. 
No  husband  could  protect  his  wife  from 
any  unkindness,  or  even  cruelty,  on  the 
part  of  the  Tuekoo-Ma. 

The  children  are  all  spoiled  in  India, 
being  allowed  their  own  way  in  almost 
every  thing.  They  are  continually  with 
the  mother  ;  and  the  fond  parent  who 
dotes  on  her  children,  would  not  punish 
a  boy,  because  he  is  of  the  superior  sex  • 
and  she  will  not  punish  a  girl,  because 
she  knows  what  a  slave  she  will  be  when 
married  ;  therefore  she  wishes  to  grant 


KAHDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          21 

her  every  pleasure  while  she  is  a  child. 
Thus  children  grow  up  without  any  whole- 
some restraint,  but  with  a  true,  deep  love 
for  their  mothers. 

Until  I  was  six  years  old,  my  only 
articles  of  dress  were  a  gold  necklace, 
some  gold  bracelets,  and  some  silver 
bangles  on  my  ankles.  At  that  age  I 
began  occasionally  to  wear  a  sarree. 
This  is  the  only  article  of  clothing  worn 
by  females.  It  consists  of  a  long  strip 
of  cloth  a  little  over  a  yard  wide,  gen- 
erally edged  with  a  bright-colored  bor- 
der. This  is  fastened  round  the  loins, 
and  then  brought  up  over  the  chest  and 
head.  The  upper  part,  which  covers 
the  head,  is  called  the  chuddah,  or  veil; 
but  little  girls  never  wear  this  over  the 
head  until  they  are  married ;  and  even 
after  marriage,  when  they  are  in  the 
father's  home,  the  head  is  left  uncov- 
ered. 


22         KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

Our  clothing  was  only  one  thickness 
of  cloth  over  the  body,  and  was  gener- 
ally of  mull  muslin ;  but  at  Poojahs,  or 
on  special  occasions,  when  we  were  sup- 
posed to  be  dressed,  the  material  was 
as  thin  as  gauze. 

My  time  used  to  be  spent  playing  with 
the  other  children,  though  we  had  no 
regular  plays,  as  you  have;  trying  to 
help  my  mother  cook,  combing  or  braid- 
ing her  long  hair,  or  lying  on  her  lap 
listening  to  stories  told  by  her  or  some 
of  the  other  women,  or  to  what  was  far 
worse,  the  gossip  of  the  barberess  who 
used  to  come  every  week  to  cut  the  toe 
and  finger  nails  of  the  female  part  of  the 
household,  and  to  dye  our  fingers  and 
feet  with  henna* — a  barber  performing 
the  same  office  for  the  men. 

It  was  amazing  the  amount  of  mischief 

°  Henna,  a  sort  of  paint,  bright  red,  which  remains  for 
several  clays. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          23 

this  woman  would  do,  the  fearfully  de- 
praved and  licentious  stories  that  she 
would  carry  from  house  to  house,  and 
to  which  all,  even  the  smallest  child, 
was  permitted  to  listen.  The  more  vile 
and  polluting  the  story,  the  more  it  was 
enjoyed  by  the  listeners. 

I  will  here  give  you  one  of  my  moth- 
er's stories ;  it  is  about  the  best  one  I 
ever  heard  told  by  a  Hindoo. 

THE   STORY  OF  A  FAKIRo AND  AN  IGNO- 
RANT   MAN. 

An  ignorant  man  asked  a  fakir : 
"Who  are  you,  what  are  you  doing,  and 
why  are  you  seated  here  ?" 

The  fakir  replied :  "  I  am  a  beggar  in 
God's  service.  I  have  abandoned  the 
world  that  I  may*  walk  in  God's  ways, 

°  A  fakir  is  a  religious  beggar,  or  one  supposed  to  be 
very  holy,  who  holds  intercourse  with  the  gods,  and  to 
have  subdued  all  his  earthly  passions  and  propensities, 
This  story  is  taken  from  a  book  of  Hindoo  tales. 


24          KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIEL. 

though  to  attain  this  I  may  have  to  en- 
dure pain  and  suffer  privation  and  sor- 
row. I  am  studying  human  nature,  and 
the  two  classes  of  men  of  whom  the 
world  is  composed :  the  one  given  to  the 
pleasures  of  life,  the  other  engaged  in  the 
service  of  holiness  and  God.  In  man's 
opinion  there  are  several  classes  of  per- 
sons ;  but  in  God's  infallible  judgment 
there  exists  but  two,  the  good  and  the 
bad." 

The  ignorant  man  observed  :  "  You 
say  that  you  are  in  God's  service,  and 
that  you  know  him,  and  are  acquainted 
with  man's  nature ;  then  pray  allow  me 
to  put  to  you  three  questions,  which,  if 
you  fail  to  answer,  I  will  esteem  you  not 
only  a  liar,  but  a  deceitful,  wicked  per- 
son, deluding  others  to  earn  for  yourself 
a  dishonest  livelihood.  If  it  happens  to 
be  as  I  think,  I  will  beat  you  away  from 
here,  and  take  all  you  possess." 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          25 

The  fakir  replied:  "By  this  speech 
you  show  your  own  weak  intellect ;  but 
I  am  satisfied  with  your  proposal.  Pray 
tell  me  in  what  matter  you  desire  my 
opinion." 

The  ignorant  man  said:  "Fakir,  the 
first  question  is  this  :  Show  God  to  me, 
and  tell  me  of  what  color  he  is  ? 

"The  second  question  is  :  Satan  being 
formed  of  fire,  and  hell  composed  of  the 
same  element,"  (they  have  learned  to 
believe  in  Satan  and  hell  from  the  Mus- 
sulmans,) "how  then  can  fire  make  any 
impression  on  Satan  ? 

"The  third  is:  You  say  that  what- 
ever is  done  in  the  world,  is  executed 
by  God  himself,  and  not  man,  for  man 
can  do  nothing  by  his  own  power.  Is  it 
so,  or  not  ?" 

The  fakir  began  to  muse  for  awhile  on 
the  subject ;  then,  after  a  short  time, 
laughed,  and  looked  at  the  ignorant  man, 


26          KAEDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIRL. 

and  asked  if  those  were  all  the  questions 
he  had  to  put. 

"Yes,  father,  and  I  have  to  request 
their  answer." 

The  fakir,  looking  here  and  there, 
took  up  a  ball  of  clay,  which  he  aimed 
at  the  ignorant  man's  head  with  a  force 
that  stunned  him. 

The  ignorant  man  soon  roused,  and 
began  to  make  a  great  noise  and  to  call 
out  for  help,  crying  and  telling  the  vil- 
lage men  that  the  fakir  had  hit  his  fore- 
head so  hard  a  blow  with  a  stone  that 
he  was  quite  faint. 

When  the  men  had  heard  his  com- 
plaint, they  began  to  call  the  fakir  all 
kinds  of  ill  names,  and  to  address  him 
thus:  "You  say  that  you  are  God's 
beggar,  but  your  culpable  action  shows 
that  you  have  come  from  the  king- 
dom of  Satan.  We  will  take  you  away 
to  the  Cazi  (judge),  and  then  we  will 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.         27 

see  who  will  protect  such  a  preten- 
der." 

So  the  men  dragged  him  before  the 
cazi  of  the  place.  The  cazi  inquired  why 
they  had  offered  insult  and  violence  to 
the  poor  fakir.  The  people  said:  "Cazi 
sahib,"  (sahib,  sir,)  "this  fakir  is  a  pre- 
tender. He  is  of  so  violent  a  temper, 
that  he  has  struck  this  poor  fellow  a  se- 
vere blow  with  a  stone  on  his  forehead, 
which  has  nearly  killed  him,  and  all  this 
cruel  usage  he  has  perpetrated  too,  with- 
out the  least  provocation." 

Hearing  this,  the  cazi  was  highly  en- 
raged at  the  fakir,  and  inquired  why  he 
had  inflicted  pain,  without  any  reason 
for  it. 

The  fakir,  seeing  and  hearing  things 
not  quite  consonant  with  the  character 
of  a  cazi,  told  him  that  he  too  appeared 
to  be  wanting  in  understanding. 

The  cazi  sahib  became  more  angry  at 


28         KAEDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIKL. 

what  he  considered  the  fakir's  insolence. 
He  remarked:  "You,  father,  appear  in 
sheep's  clothing,  but  through  the  flimsy 
coverlet  the  wolf  is  seen.  For  what  rea- 
sons, and  by  what  indications,  do  you 
recognize  me  to  be  a  man  of  perverted 
judgment?" 

The  fakir  said:  "Be  not  angry,  for 
anger  is  the  symbol  of  ignorance.  Con- 
sider this  truth,  and  reflect  on  the  sub- 
ject of  that  man's  three  questions." 

The  cazi,  calling  the  man,  asked  what 
were  the  three  questions  which,  being 
put  to  the  fakir,  gave  him  offence,  and 
led  him  to  retort  so  rudely. 

Hearing  the  questions,  the  cazi,  turn- 
ing towards  the  .fakir,  asked,  "Fakir 
sahib,  was  it  proper  for  you  to  strike 
the  man,  instead  of  answering  him  ?" 

The  fakir  said  :  "  I  have  by  that  deed 
answered  his  three  questions  already. 
His  first  question  was :  '  Show  God  to 


KA11DOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          20  - 

me,  and  tell  me  of  what  color  he  is?' 
My  answer  is  :  Show  me  your  pain,  and 
tell  me  its  color,  and  I  will  show  you 
God,  and  tell  you  of  what  color  he  is. 
His  second  question  was :  '  Satan  is  form- 
ed of  fire,  and  hell  is  composed  of  the 
same  element ;  how  then  can  fire  make 
any  impression  on  Satan  ?7  My  answer 
is :  Man  is  admitted  to  have  clay  for  his 
origin.  This  man  asserts  that  fire  makes 
no  impression  on  fire  ;  if  so,  a  ball  of  clay 
cannot  hurt  a  body  of  clay.  I  did  not 
use  any  stick  or  stone  to  strike  him,  but  a 
lump  of  clay.  According  to  his  argument, 
therefore,  I  am  justified,  for  I  could  not 
have  hurt  him.  His  third  question  was : 
1  Whatever  is  done  in  the  world,  is  exe- 
cuted by  God  himself,  and  not  man,  for 
man  can  do  nothing  by  his  own  power.' 
My  answer  is  :  If  nothing  is  clone  by 
man,  then  I  have  not  struck  him  ;  but 
God,  according  to  his  showing,  did  it< 


30          KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

and    I   am   therefore   guiltless    of   the 
charge.'7 

This  is,  as  I  before  said,  about  the 
best  Hindoo  story  I  ever  heard.  There 
is  scarcely  another  that  you  would  con- 
sider right  or  proper  for  children  to  hear. 
Most  of  the  stories  were  about  the  lives 
of  the  gods  and  goddesses,  or  about  the 
transmigration  of  the  soul.  The  Hin- 
doos believe  that  after  death  the  soul 
assumes  the  body  of  some  other  human 
being,  or  some  animal,  thus  passing 
from  one  to  another  until  it  has  over- 
come all  its  evil  passions,  and  become 
perfectly  holy.  We  had  no  beautiful 
stories  to  teach  us  to  be  good  and  holy, 
and  thus  to  be  happy. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.         31 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

AND  now  I  suppose  you  would  like  to 
hear  what  was  our  food,  and  how  we  ate 
it.  Take  a  look  at  us  as  we  are  eating 
our  dinner,  and  what  do  you  see  ?  A 
father  and  mother,  with  their  children, 
sitting  down  around  a  table  spread  with 
a  clean  cloth,  and  before  eating,  lifting 
up  their  hands  and  asking  a  blessing, 
and  giving  thanks  to  the  great  Giver  of 
all?  No,  dear  friends,  you  would  see 
nothing  of  this  sort. 

Our  principal  food  consisted  of  curry 
and  rice.  Curry  is  a  mixture  of  spices 
and  saffron,  in  which  meat,  fish,  or  vege- 
tables are  cooked.  But  Hindoos  never 
eat  any  animal  food,  except  fish;  there- 
fore ours  was  always  a  fish  or  vegetable 


32         KAKDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

curry.  It  was  always  eaten  with  rice, 
which  ray  mother  prepared  twice  a  day. 

The  largest  and  best  portion  was  al- 
ways placed  on  a  large  brass  plate  and 
carried  to  my  father's  room  for  him. 
After  he  had  eaten  all  he  required,  and 
his  plate  was  brought  back,  our  mother 
and  we  might  then  eat.  The  remainder 
of  the  food  was  then  put  on  another 
brass  plate,  placed  on  the  earthen  or 
brick  floor,  with  a  lota,  or  brass  drink- 
ing-vessel,  beside  it.  We — that  is,  my 
mother  and  her  children — then  seated 
ourselves  on  the  floor  around  the  plate, 
and  each  one  putting  his  or  her  hand  into 
the  dish,  would  take  up  a  small  portion 
of  rice,  and  squeezing  that,  with  the 
curry,  into  a  round  ball,  would  toss  it 
down  the  throat. 

After  we  had  eaten  as  much  as  we 
wanted,  we  would  take  up  the  brass  lota, 
not  putting  it  to  our  lips,  but  throwing 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          33 

our  heads  back,  hold  the  lota  up  high, 
and  thus  let  the  water  pour  down  our 
throats.  We  had  no  spoons  or  knives 
or  forks.  Then  our  meal  was  over,  with- 
out one  thought  of  thankfulness  to  Him 
who  constantly  supplied  pur  returning 
wants. 

Could  you  have  seen  us  at  our  meals, 
you  would  have  wondered  as  much  as  I 
did  the  first  time  I  saw  Europeans  sit 
down  to  eat.  Now  though  we  had  a 
good  man-servant,  my  mother  spent 
much  of  her  time  in  the  preparation  of 
different  kinds  of  curries ;  for  to  excel 
in  cooking  was  at  that  time  the  only 
accomplishment  to  which  a  Hindoo  wom- 
an might  aspire.  Helping  my  mother  to 
burn  the  spices  for  the  curry,  braiding 
her  hair,  and  listening  to  her  strange 
stories  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  were 
my  chief  employments* 

Besides  our  two   principal  meals  of 


34    KAKDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIKL. 

curry  and  rice,  we  had  a  great  many 
different  kinds  of  sweetmeats  which  we 
would  eat  at  any  or  all  times  of  the  day. 
They  were  composed  of  ghee,  (clarified 
butter,)  sugar,  milk,  "and  sometimes  co- 
coanut.  Of  these  we  were  very  fond, 
and  would  eat  a.number  in  the  day. 

Besides  the  fruits  you  have  seen,  such 
as  plantains  and  oranges,  we  had  many 
others,  such  as  the  guava,  mango,  leach, 
jack-fruit,  etc.  God  has  been  very 
bountiful  to  my  native  land,  in  making 
the  earth  to  bring  forth  abundantly; 
but,  alas,  alas,  the  poor  people  know 
not  Him  "who  is  daily  loading  them 
with  benefits." 

My  infant  lips  were  never  taught  to 
lisp  my  heavenly  Father's  name.  My 
mother  never  told  me  of  that  good  Shep- 
herd, the  dear  Saviour,  who  gathers  the 
little  lambs  in  his  arms,  and  folds  them 
to  his  bosom. 


KAEDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIKL.          35 

But  you  will  ask,  was  I  never  taught 
to  pray  to  any  god  ?  When  I  was  quite 
a  little  child,  I  was  told  that  there  were 
many,  many  gods ;  and  as  I  before  said, 
I  listened  to  strange  and  wonderful  sto- 
ries about  them,  and  we  had  many  pic- 
tures and  images  of  them  in  the  house ; 
but  until  I  was  six  years  old,  though  I 
often  saw  my  mother  performing  poojah, 
(worship,)  I  was  never  taught  to  do  so. 

My  mother!  oh  what  bitter  anguish  of 
soul  comes  to  me  when  I  think  of  thee ! 
Thy  name  embodies  to  me  all  that  is 
pure,  gentle,  and  lovely!  My  mother 
had,  as  I  have  said,  a  truly  devotional 
spirit — a  strong  religious  tendency.  The 
god  to  whom  she  had  devoted  herself 
was  Sheve.  This  god  is  worshipped  by 
every  woman  in  India,  but  by  some  only 
occasionally,  or  on  his  annual  feast-day. 

Each  .god  has  his  annual  feast,  when 
he  is  particularly  worshipped ;  but  per- 


36          KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

haps  little  thought  of  during  the  rest  of 
the  year.  A  Hindoo,  also,  does  not 
worship  every  god,  each  one  choosing 
for  himself  or  herself  the  particular  ones 
to  whom  he  will  pay  most  respect  and 
devotion.  They  believe  really  that  there 
are  only  a  very  few  gods  and  goddesses, 
but  that  each  of  these  has  become  incar- 
nate many  times ;  that  is,  appeared  and 
lived  in  the  world  under  different  forms ; 
that  he  must  be  addressed  for  special 
gifts ;  and  as  in  the  Romish  church,  cer- 
tain images  of  the  Yirgin  are  supposed 
to  possess  more  power  than  others,  so 
here  the  same  god  under  one  form  is 
supposed  to  possess  more  power  than  he 
does  under  another. 

My  mother  spent  about  an  hour  a  day 
in  J;he  worship  of  Sheve.  This  is  very 
unlike  the  Christian's  worship  of  the 
"God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  which  is  simply  going  before 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.         37 

Him,  to  thank  Him  for  his  goodness,  to 
ask  pardon  for  our  many  sins  against 
Him  for  Jesus'  sake,  and  that  He  will 
make  us  better,  and  beseeching  Him,  as 
our  Father,  to  supply  our  wants  and 
take  care  of  us.  This  is  how  a  Chris- 
tian child  is  taught  to  pray,  and  this 
they  can  understand  when  they  are  very 
little. 

It  took  me  a  long  time  to  learn  how 
to  pay  poojah  to  Sheve.  I  sat  by  my 
mother  and  watched  her  day  after  day, 
and  week  after  week,  and  month  after 
month,  before  I  could  do  it  right.  She 
had  a  little  image  of  the  god  about  three 
inches  high,  made  of  mud.  Before  this 
she  would  sit,  and  sprinkling  it  many 
times  with  holy  water  from  the  Ganges 
river,  present  to  it  flowers,  grains  of 
rice,  little  bits  of  sweetmeats,  and  nuts ; 
certain  forms  of  words  being  used  at 
each  part  of  the  ceremony.  The  poo- 


38          KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

jab  was  not  performed  if  one  word  was 
omitted  £>r  said  at  the  wrong  time,  or  if 
a  flower  was  laid  to  the  right,  when  it 
ought  to  have  been  laid  to  the  left. 
There  were  a  hundred  motions  and  ges- 
tures that  had  to  be  learned,  before  the 
worship  could  be  paid.  I  was  a  long 
time  in  learning  this,  but  my  mother  was 
not  contented  until  I  could  perform  the 
whole  ceremony.  The  other  women  of 
the  house  contented  themselves  with 
.  bowing,  touching  their  heads  to  the 
idols,  or  placing  grains  of  rice  or  flow- 
ers on  the  shrine.  God  Sheve  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  creator.  To  him  ev- 
ery woman  prays  that  she  may  have 
that  greatest  of  all  blessings,  offspring; 
and  him  the  loving  mother  continues  to 
worship,  propitiating  him  for  her  chil- 
dren. 

In  addition  to  Sheve,  Kali  and  Jug- 
gernaut were  the  gods  worshipped  by 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.         39 

our  family ;  and  their  annual  feasts  were 
kept  up  at  great  cost  at  our  house. 
Then  large  images  of  the  gods  were 
made,  and  placed  in  the  gods'  house  in 
the  courts.  A  small  car  also  of  Jugger- 
naut was  made,  and  all  the  male  ser- 
vants, with  the  young  boys  of  the  fam- 
ily, would  draw  it  about  the  court  and 
the  neighboring  streets  with  infinite  de- 
light. I  remember  once  asking  my 
mother  why  it  was  that  Juggernaut  was 
so  ugly.  In  answer,  she.  told  me  this 
story : 

A  very  rich  rajah  in  the  country, 
built  a  magnificent  temple,  and  devoted 
it  to  one  of  the  great  gods.  He  then 
said  that  he  must  have  a  new  and  very 
beautiful  image  carved  to  place  in  his 
temple,  and  the  Brahmins  would  pray 
the  great  god  to  come  and  dwell  in  this 
image,  to  make  it  noted  and  renowned 
as  a  great  and  powerful  god. 


40         KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL. 

He  therefore  gave  notice  everj^where 
that  he  wanted  a  good  mistri*  to  come 
and  make  this  image.  It  must  be  more 
beautiful  than  any  thing  that  had  ever 
been  made.  If  it  was  so,  and  ihe  rajah 
was  satisfied,  he  would  give  him  an  im- 
mense sum  of  money ;  but  if  it  was  not 
so,  the  mistri  should  be  killed.  Hear- 
ing this,  no  mistri  dare  undertake  the 
work,  and  the  beautiful  temple  remained 
for  several  years  without  any  god  to 
inhabit  it. 

At  last  an  old  man  with  a  bundle  of 
carpenter's  tools,  presented  himself  to 
the  rajah. 

The  rajah  looked  at  him  a  minute, 
and  said,  "I  am  sure  that  you  cannot 
make  any  thing  beautiful."  The  mistri 
was  old,  dirty,  and  oh,  so  ugly!  He 
squinted  with  both  eyes,  had  red  hair,  a 
crooked  back,  and  bandy  legs.  In  fact, 

*  Mistri,  a  carpenter  or  other  workman. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          41 

he  was  a  monster  of  ugliness.  The  old 
man  insisted  that  he  could  make  the 
most  beautiful  image  that  ever  was 


•o 

seen. 


At  last" the  rajah,  finding  he  could  get 
no  one  else  to  try,  gave  his  consent ; 
"but  remember,"  he  said,  "if  you  do  not 
make  it  very  beautiful,  I  shall  take  your 
life." 

To  this  the  raistri  agreed,  but  with 
one  condition,  that  all  the  time  he  was 
employed  in  his  work  he  should  be  shut 
up  in  the  temple,  and  not  in  the  least 
interfered  with  till  his  work  was  com- 
pleted ;  that  if  the  temple  doors  were 
opened,  or  he  was  interrupted  in  any 
way,  he  would  immediately  leave  his 
work  unfinished,  and  would  never  put 
another  stroke  to  it.  The  rajah  did  not 
like  this,  as  he  wished  to  watch  the 
progress  of  the  work ;  but  there  was  no 
help  for  it,  as  the  old  mistri  would  only 
6 


42         KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

work  upon  liis  own  terms,  and  the  rajah 
could  get  no  other  to  work  at  all. 

The  old  mistri  shut  himself  up  in  the 
temple,  and  for  three  months  nobody 
saw  him ;  no  one  could  tell  hbw  he  got 
food  or  water,  for  he  never  came  out,  and 
nobody  went  in  to  him. 

During  the  whole  day  and  night  a 
most  terrible  noise  and  hammering  were 
heard  in  the  temple,  sometimes  in  one 
part,  sometimes  in  another. 

The  poor  rajah  was  terribly  fright- 
ened ;  it  sounded  as  if  his  temple  was 
being  knocked  all  to  pieces.  At  length, 
after  some  months  had  passed,  and  noth- 
ing had  been  seen  of  the  mistri,  though 
the  noise  continued  as  usual,  the  rajah 
went  to  the  door  of  the  temple,  and  after 
knocking  a  long  time  the  mistri  an- 
swered him.  He  told  the  rajah  he  was 
getting  on  beautifully  with  his  work,  but 
on  no  account  to  interrupt  him  again. 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.         43 

After  this,  the  noise  in  the  temple  in- 
creased so  much,  that  it  seemed  as  if 
there  were  a  hundred  workmen  ham- 
mering away  with  all  their  might,  in- 
stead of  one. 

At  last  the  poor  rajah's  patience  be- 
came utterly  exhausted.  Afraid  that 
his  temple  would  be  spoiled,  after  knock- 
ing in  vain  for  the  mistri  to  open  the 
door,  he  had  it  burst  open.  The  tem- 
ple was  the  same  as  ever,  and  there 
stood  the  mistri  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor,  with  the  ugly  little  misshapen 
image,  about  a  foot  high,  before  him, 
with  no  hands,  only  stumps  for  arms, 
and  without  feet. 

The  rajah  in  a  great  rage  asked  him 
if  he  called  that  a  beautiful  figure. 

11  You  have  interrupted  me  before  I 
had  finished  it,'7  said  the  mistri;  "  no 
one  shall  dare  to  alter  it,  or  add  any 
thing  to  it.  Ugly  as  it  is,  it  is  the  great 


44         KARDOO,   THE  HINDOO   GIRL. 

god  Juggernaut,  and  in  that  form  shall 
he  be  worshipped  all  over  India." 

The  rajah  was  in  a  fearful  rage — 
aimed  a  blow  to  kill  the  mistri,  when 
suddenly  he  changed  from  the  ugly  old 
man  into  a  beautiful  young  man,  and 
rose  up  into  the  air  above  the  rajah's 
reach,  saying,  "As  the  great  god  Jug- 
gernaut all  shall  worship  that.7'  He  then 
disappeared  through  the  roof  of  the  tem- 
ple, leaving  the  rajah  in  great  dismay, 
for  now  all  knew  the  old  mistri  to  be 
none  other  than  the  great  god  Moha- 
dave,  and  his  work,  none  would  dare  to 
touch ;  the  figure  must  be  left  just  as  it 
was. 

I  then  asked  my  mother  why  that  Jug- 
gernaut had  such  a  fine  car,  and  went 
out  for  a  ride  sometimes,  which  none  of 
the  other  gods  did.  She  could  not  tell 
me ;  but  I  have  learned  the  story  since, 
and  will  crive  it  to  you  here. 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.          45 

Juggernaut  is  very  fond  of  bathing, 
and  in  places  where  he  is  particularly 
worshipped,*  his  temple  is  placed  by 
the  side  of  a  tank.  The  priests  daily 
take  him  to  bathe,  and  then  dress  him. 
But  when  the  cold  season  commences, 
he  one  day  takes  a  severe  cold  in  his 
bath,  and  is  laid  up  with  a  bad  fever. 
He  is  ill  for  three  weeks.  This  is  the 
harvest-time  of  his  priests,  for  during 
his  illness  his  votaries  come  every  day 
to  inquire  after  his  health,  and  to  bring 
offerings  of  ghee,  fruit,  powers,  rice, 
goats,  which  of  course  all  belong  to  the 
priests. 

After  three  or  four  weeks  he  is  pro- 

°  Though  people  may  have  images  and  pictures  of  these 
gods  in  their  houses,  yet  when  they  want  to  pay  .them  any 
particular  reverence  or  homage,  they  will  make  a  pilgrim- 
age to  some  particular  temple  or  shrine  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  the  god  they  wish  to  honor.  Here  many  Brah- 
min priests  continually  reside,  who  receive  the  offerings 
of  pilgrims,  say  many  prayers,  and  offer  sacrifices  for 
them. 


46         KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIEL. 

nounced  a  little  better,  and  it  is  said 
change  of  air  will  do  him  good.  Wher- 
ever he  has  a  temple  built,  one  for  his 
sister  is  placed  about  three  miles  off— 
consequently  his  great  car  is  brought 
out,  he  is  placed  on  it  with  a  great  many 
priests  to  take  care  of  him,  and  thus  in 
state  he  is  drawn  down  to  his  sister's 
house.  The  people,  frantic  with  joy  at 
.  his  recovery,  draw  the  car  along  them- 
selves ;  others  throw  flowers,  clothes,  etc. ; 
and  others  even  cast  themselves  under 
the  heavy  wheels  of  the  car  as  an  offer- 
ing to  the  god.  He  remains  at  his  sis- 
ter's house  for  a  week  or  two,  and  then 
is  brought  back  to  his  own  house  in  the 
same  manner,  though  with  much  fewer 
demonstrations  of  joy. 

At  our  house  every  year  a  small  car 
of  clay  was  made,  and  a  clay  image  of 
the  god  placed  upon  it,  and  for  the  whole 
day  it  was  dragged  about  with  wild  de- 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIKL.          47 

light.  In  the  night,  sacrifices  and  poo- 
jah  were  offered  to  it,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing both  car  and  god  were  consigned  to 
the  Ganges.  As  they  had  been  used  for 
holy  purposes,  they  must  not  be  left  to 
desecration,  but  must  again  become  part 
of  the  sacred  clay  of  the  holy  river.  The 
excitement  subsiding,  Juggernaut  was 
again  forgotten  in  most  places  for  an- 
other year. 

Every  household  of  standing  has  be- 
longing to  it  a  gooroo,  or  Brahmin  priest, 
who  is  the  head  man  at  the  celebration 
of  poojah,  marriages,  shaads  or  ceremo- 
nies after  death.  This  priest  is  permit- 
ted to  enter  the  women's  part  of  the 
house,  to  give  them  instruction  in  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  their  religion. 
At  any  time  when  he  wishes  the*  females 
of  the  house  to  visit  his  wife,  he  sends 
his  own  palky  for  them,  and  it  is  a  great 
insult  to  him  if  they  do  not  go.  They 


48    KAKDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIEL. 

never  see  him  when  visiting  at  his  house, 
only  his  wife  and  the  females  of  his  fam- 
ily. These  old  Brahmin  priests  have 
full  as  much  sway  and  power  over  the 
minds  of  the  people  here  as  the  Eomish 
priests  have  in  Catholic  countries. 

When  I  was  a  little  girl  I  went  once 
or  twice  with  my  mother  4o  the  gooroo's 
house,  also  twice  on  a  visit  to  her  father's 
house.  We  went  each  time  in  a  palky. 

A  palky  is  an  upright  box  just  high 
enough  for  a  person  to  sit  up  in  it.  It  is 
painted  black.  You  get  into  it  by  doors 
at  the  sides,  which  slide  back ;  and  when 
these  doors  are  shut  it  is  as  close  as  a 
box.  It  has  a  pole  at  each  end,  and  is 
carried  on  men's  shoulders.  This  would 
be  brought  into  our  verandah,  my  moth- 
er and  1  would  get  in,  the  door  shut, 
and  a  thick  red  cloth  would  be  covered 
over  all,  so  that  not  one  ray  of  light  or 
breath  of  air  could  enter. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          49 

I  well  remember  how  frightened  I 
was,  how  I  crept  close  to  my  dear  mother 
when  the  bearers  lifted  us  up,  when  we 
would  get  into  the  noisy  streets,  and  hear 
the  strange  confusion  of  sounds  around 
us,  but  were  not  able  to  see  any  thing. 

On  these  occasions  I  wore  a  sarree 
made  of  the  finest  gauze,  my  legs,  arms, 
head,  and  neck  loaded  with  jewelry- 
bracelets,  and  chains  so  heavy  that  they 
made  me  ache  all  over,  though  I  was 
very  proud  of  them.  Those  whom  we 
visited  gave  us  a  profusion  of  sweet- 
meats, and  then  we  would  return  home 
the  same  way. 

When  my  mother  went  to  my  grand- 
father's house,  however,  she  generally 
remained  several  days.  Occasionally 
her  relatives,  or  those  of  the  other 
daughters-in-law,  would  visit  us  in  the 
same  way.  Thus  I  have  told  you  some- 
what of  our  way  of  living. 


50         KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

I  WAS  about  eight  years  old  when  I 
began  to  think. 

My  uncle  Chundro  was  a  fine  young 
man  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  I  was 
very  fond  of  him,  and  he  used  often  to 
come  to  my  mother's  room  after  his 
school  to  play  with  me.  One  day  he 
brought  me  some  beautiful  flowers,  of 
which  I  was  very  fond.  I  kissed  them, 
pressed  them  to  my  heart,  laughed  and 
talked  to  them". 

Just  then  my  mother  was  going  to 
perform  her  poojah  to  Sheve ;  she  called 
me,  and  told  me  to  give  my  flowers  to 
the  idol.  At  first  I  positively  refused ; 
but  she,  speaking  more  sternly  than  1 
ever  remember,  commanded  it  to  be 
done. 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIEL.          51 

Crying  and  sobbing,  I  ran  and  flung 
them  at  the  idol ;  but  not  all  her  com- 
mands or  entreaties  then,  could  make  me 
join  in  the  worship.  I -ran  away  to  my 
uncle  Chundro,  (being  a  younger  brother 
he  was  allowed  to  be  in  the  women's 
verandah.)  I  told  him  my  grief,  and  he 
tried  to  comfort  me  ;  and  pointing  to  the 
bit  of  blue  sky  seen  from  the  verandah, 
he  said,  "Look,  my  little  Kardoo,  up 
there  above  the  sky.  there  is  a  beautiful 
place  called  heaven.  The  great  God 
lives  there,  and  if  you  love  him  and  are 
a  good  little  girl,  you  will  one  day  go  to 
live  in  that  beautiful  place  with  him." 

"I  don't  want  to  go  there,'7  I  an- 
swered; "for  if  he  is  like  the  Takoo 
(idol)  my  mother  worships,  he  will  take 
away  all  my  pretty  things,  and  never 
give  me  any  thing." 

"  But  he  is  not  like  that  Takoo,"  said 
he.  "He  is  the  great  God  who  made 


52         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

every  thing ;  he  made  you,  and  he  gives 
you  all  things  that  you  have.  He  loves 
you  like  a  father,  and  you  must  try.  to 
learn  to  love  him.  He 'has  done  so  much 
for  you,  that  you  should  love  him  better 
than  anybody  else,  and  try  to  do  what 
will  please  him." 

"But,  uncle,  my  mother  tells  me  that 
my  father  gives  me  my  food  and  all 
things  that  I  have.  You  say  the  great 
God  gives  them  to  me.  How  is  that  ?" 

"  God  gives  them  to  your  father,  Kar- 
doo,  and  he  gives  them  to  you.  I  do 
not  know  much  about  this  God,  but  I  am 
trying  to  learn,  and  I  will  teach  you  if 
you  will  listen  to  me."  One  of  the  other 
boys  coming  up  to  us  just  then,  he  quick- 
ly closed  the  book  that  he  held  in  his 
hand,  and  moved  away. 

The  next  day  my  mother  began  to 
reprove  me  for  my  conduct  about  the 
flowers,  and  told  me  I  ought  to  be  wil- 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.         53 

ling  to  give  all  I  had  to  the  god.  "  He 
is  a  very  great  a'nd  powerful  god,  my 
child.  He  is  the  creator  who  made  you 
and  all  other  things." 

"  Did  he  make  the  flowers  ?" 
"  Yes  ;  whatever  he  likes  he  can  do." 
"  Then,  if  he  can  make  as  many  as  he 
likes,  and  when  he  likes,  why  does  he 
want  to  take  mine  away  ?  He  is  very 
greedy.  But  my  uncle  Chundro  told  me 
that  Sheve  was  only  mud,  that  he  could 
not  keep  himself  from  being  broken,  if  I 
were  to  throw  him  down ;  and  he  told 
me  that  the  great  God  who  made  all 
things  lives  in  heaven.'7 

"What  has  your  uncle  been  saying  to 
you  ?  Oh,  my  child,  my  child,  do  n't  lis- 
ten to  him  j  he  has  been  reading  the  vile 
Christian  books,  and  I  fear  they  are  turn- 
ing him  from  the  sacred  religion  of  his 
fathers.  I  shall  not  let  you  go  near  him 
if  he  talks  to  you  like  this." 


54         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

I  loved  my  uncle  very  dearly,  and 
these  threats,  prevented  me  from  ever 
again  telling  her  any  thing  he  said  on 
the  subject  of  religion.  The  book  I  had 
seen  him  read  was  the  Bible.  He  did 
not  dare  to  talk  much  about  it  to  others ; 
but  often,  after  this  time,  he  would  take 
me  in  his  arms  and  tell  me  pretty  sto- 
ries, which  I  have  since  found  were  Bible 
stories;  and  how,  or  by  what  means  I 
know  not,  but  he  impressed  on  my  child- 
ish mind  the  conviction  that  1  was  a  great 
sinner,  and  that  if  I  could  find  no  means 
of  expiating  those  sins,  I  must  be  miser- 
able for  ever. 

About  this  time  we  kept  the  festival 
or  poojah  of  Kali  in  very  great  style 
and  expense. 

Kali  is  the  goddess  of  vengeance,  and 
she  is  generally  worshipped  by  the  Hin- 
doos. All  trouble  they  suppose  comes 
from  her,  and  in  all  time  of  affliction 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          55 

they  offer  to  her  propitiatory  sacrifices, 
and  make  promises  of  large  gifts  and 
offerings.  But  once  a  year,  at  the  an- 
nual festival,  almost  every  family  of 
wealth  has  an  image  of  her  erected  in 
the  god's  house,  and  all  the  friends  and 
poor  neighbors  are  invited  to  attend  the 
feast. 

At  these  feasts,  females  were  rarely 
if  ever  present ;  and  though  rich  and 
poor  men  were  invited,  and  partook  of 
the  refreshments  provided,  yet  there  was 
a  marked  difference  made.  The  more 
intimate  friends  of  the  household  and  the 
Brahmins  were  received  in  the  babus' 
own  rooms  and  in  the  verandah;  those  less 
intimate  in  the  lower  verandah  ;  while 
the  crowd  of  poor  neighbors  were  not 
permitted  to  go  above  the  court.  If  one 
of  the  more  intimate  friends  was  seen 
for  an  instant  standing  among  the  crowd, 
some  one  was  instantly  despatched  to 


56         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

bring  him  into  the  room  above  ;  or  if 
any  man  was  seen  above  that  they  did 
not  wish  there,  he  was  quickly  invited 
to  go  below. 

For  a  week  before  the  poojah  took 
place,  the  whole  household  was  busy 
preparing  for  it.  Immense  piles  of 
sweetmeats  and  curries  of  every  kind 
were  made  by  the  females,  while  in  the 
outer  court  other  preparations  were  go- 
ing on.  This  court,  around  which  the 
house  was  built,  was  fifty  feet  square. 

Every  moment  that  my  mother  could 
spare  me  was  spent  behind  the  screen, 
watching  what  was  going  on  below. 
They  were  whitewashing  and  clearing 
the  court,  putting  up  chandeliers,  and 
posts  from  which  to  hang  lamps,  stretch- 
ing a  canvas  roof  over  the  open  court. 
But  that  which  I  watched  with  the  great- 
est interest  was  the  construction  of  the 
Takoo,  or  god. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIBL.          57 

The  figures — for  there  were  two,  as  I 
shall  describe  to  you — were  first  made 
just  like  a  wooden  skeleton  ;  then  they 
were  covered  over  thickly  with  straw, 
and  then  they  were  plastered  over  and 
made  into  shape  with  the  sacred  mud  or 
clay  from  the  holy  Ganges.  After  the 
whole  is  formed  with  the  clay,  it  is  left 
for  two  or  three  days  to  dry,  and  is  then 
painted,  and  then  placed  in  the  gods' 
house  to  be  worshipped. 

Kali,  as  I  before  said,  is  the  goddess 
of  destruction,  or  vengeance.  She  is  rep- 
resented as  a  gigantic  woman  of  a  deep 
blue  color,  standing  on  the  body  of  a 
man  of  the  same  size,  which  is  painted 
white.  She  has  four  hands  :  in  one  she 
holds  a  bleeding  head  ;  in  the  second 
she  brandishes  a  large  knife  ;  while  the 
other  two  are  uplifted,  but  empty. 
Around  her  neck,  for  a  garland,  she  has 
forty  bleeding  heads  ;  around  her  waist 


58          KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

a  girdle  of  human  hands.  She  is  repre- 
sented as  loaded  with  jewelry,  but  stain- 
ed in  many  places  with  the  blood  of  the 
trophies  she  carries.  Her  tongue  sticks 
out  so  far  that  it  almost  touches  her 
chest.  Her  position  is  on  the  man's 
body,  but  starting  back  as  if  in  horror. 
The  reason  of  her  being  represented 
thus,  is  that  she  is  worshipped  only  from 
fear ;  and  it  is  thought  that  this  appear- 
ance, and  the  story  belonging  to  it,  will 
inspire  a  salutary  fear  and  terror,  and 
indeed  it  does  ;  for  the  impressions  in 
this  way  made  upon  children  in  their 
earliest  days  are  scarcely  ever  effaced. 

The  story  told  is  this  :  A  great  giant 
rebelled  against  her,  and  would  not  wor- 
ship her.  So  she  set  out  to  punish  him. 
She  is  returning  after  slaying  him  and 
his  forty  sons  :  their  hands  she  cut  off 
and  wears  as  a  girdle,  and  their  heads 
as  a  garland,  while  she  carries  the  fa- 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          59 

ther's  head  in  her  hand.  As  she  is 
stalking  along  in  triumph,  not  looking 
on  the  ground,  she  steps  upon  a  man's 
body  who  is  lying  asleep.  She  starts 
back  in  horror,  to  find  she  is  treading 
upon  her  husband  whom  she  is  bound  to 
venerate. 

But  now  to  the  poojah.  During  the 
day,  immense  piles  of  sweetmeats  and 
fruits  were  placed  in  the  gods'  house — 
first  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice  to  the  god- 
dess, then  to  be  distributed  to  the  guests. 
The  gooroo;  or  family  priest,  with  a  num- 
ber of  other  priests,  arrived  about  seven 
o'clock.  They  took  their  place  in  front 
of  the  goddess,  repeating  a  continuous 
succession  of  munters,  (prayers,  or  sort 
of  invocations,)  until  after  ten  o'clock. 
About  eight  o'clock  the  guests  began  to 
arrive,  and  continued  coming  in  until 
after  twelve.  They  took  little  or  no 
part  in  the  worship,  that  being  appa- 


60          KAKDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIEL. 

rently  confined  to  the*  priests.  Beside 
them  was  a  large  tray  of  flowers,  a  ves- 
sel with  the  holy  water  of  the  Ganges, 
and  a  chafing-dish  for  burning  incense. 
The  priest  would  take  a  flower,  say  a 
munter  over  it,  sprinkle  it  with  holy 
water,  then  place  it  somewhere  on  or 
about  the  goddess.  Hundreds  were  used 
in  this  way.  Sometimes  the  perform- 
ance would  be  varied  by  tinkling  a 
small  bell,  upon  which  the  priests  would 
bow  with  their  faces  to  the  ground.  The 
people  looked  on,  but  except,  that  occa- 
sionally, a  man  would  go  up  the  steps 
and  bow,  none  seemed  to  take  part  in 
the  worship. 

During  this  time,  there  were  six  men, 
each  with  a  drum  almost  as  high  as  him- 
self, with  which  he  tried  to  make  as  much 
noise  as  possible,  without  in  the  least  re- 
garding either  tune  or  time.*  About  ten 

°  In  later  days,  I  once  went  into  a  Koman-catholio 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.          61 

o'clock,  three  more  drums  were  brought 
in,  so  large  that  the  bodies  of  those  who 
carried  them  were  entirely  concealed. 
Then  ttere  were  trumpets  and  two  or 
three  gongs.  One  man  with  a  heavy 
iron  mallet  struck  a  large  iron  shield, 
thus  producing  the  deep  tone  of  a  bell. 

One  of  the  officiating  priests  then 
<eame  down  into  the  court',  and  a  servant 
brought  him  a  large  pumpkin,  a  cucum- 
ber, and  a  bundle  of  sugar  cane.  Then, 
with  a  sharp  knife,  he  instantly  severed 
each  one,  the  pieces  flying  about  among 
the  crowd,  who  eagerly  picked  them  up. 
Then  this  old  Brahmin  began  a  wild, 
strange  "dance,  with  most  extravagant 
gestures.  In  a  few  minutes  all  the 

church,  and  saw  them  performing  the  service  of  the  mass, 
and  I  was  much  surprised  to  see  how  much  it  resembled 
our  Kali  poojah.  Instead  of  Kali  poojah,  however,  there 
was  a  crucifix,  with  three  tall  candles  on  each  side,  the 
flowers,  the  burning  incense,  the  ringing  of  the  bell,  and 
the  bowing  and  kneeling  of  the  priests,  and  the  sprinkling 
with  holy  water. 


62         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL. 

drummers  and  musicians  except  the  bell- 
man began  to  dance  around  him,  each 
carrying  his  instrument,  and  continuing 
to  play  upon  it.  At  length  the  gooroo 
passed  a  lamp  with  ten  burners  up  and 
down  and  around  the  idol ;  he  then  sud- 
denly prostrated  himself  before  it ;  in- 
stantly all  the  Brahmins  and  all  the 
babus  who  were  on  or  near  the  platform 
of  the  gods'  house  did  the  same  ;  the 
music  ceased,  and  a  general  shouting 
and  clapping  of  hands  took  place. . 

My  uncle  Chundro  had  just  come  to 
where  I  was  standing.  I  turned  and 
asked  him  the  meaning  of  these  shouts. 
"  Listen,  Kardoo,"  he  said,  "and  try  to 
understand.  A  long  time  ago  our  peo- 
ple were  very  ignorant ;  then  they 
thought  that  those  images  were  them- 
selves gods,  but  they  are  not  so  ignorant 
and  stupid  now.  They  cannot  believe 
that  those  clay  things  which  their  own 


KAEDOO,  THE    HINDOO  GIRL.          63 

hands  have  made  are  gods  ;  but  they  do 
believe  that  if  they  make  this  figure, 
and  then  the  priests  pray  and  invoke  the 
goddess  enough,  she  will  descend  from 
heaven  and  take  up  her  abode  in  the 
image,  thus  blessing  the  house  where 
she  is.  Now  the  gooroo  has  been  pray- 
ing for  the  goddess  to  come  into  this 
image,  and  when  he  lifted  up  the  light 
and  examined  it  just  now,  he  said  the 
goddess  had  arrived ;  therefore  the  peo- 
ple prostrated  themselves,  not  before  the 
clay,  but  before  the  goddess  supposed  to 
be  in  the  image.'7 

"Do  you  believe  this,  Uncle  Chun- 
dro?" 

"No,  Kardoo,  I  do  not.  I  believe 
there  is  but  one  God,  and  he  lives  in 
heaven  ;  and  if  the  Christian's  book  be 
true,  he  has  forbidden  us  to  make  any 
image  or  representation  of  him." 

"But,  Uncle  Chundro,"  I  said,  "to- 


64          KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

morrow  that  image  will  be  thrown  into 
the  Ganges  ;  why  is  that  ?" 

He  replied  :  "To-morrow  morning  the 
gooroo  will  say  a  prayer,  thanking  the 
goddess  for  her  visit,  and  telling  her 
now  she  may  return  home.  She  is  sup- 
posed then  to  return  to  heaven  ;  but  the 
image,  though  again  only  clay,  is  con- 
sidered to  have  been  made  sacred  by 
the  residence  of  the  goddess,  therefore  it 
is  cast  into  the  holy  river." 

My  uncle  was  called  away  ;  I  saw  him 
no  more  that  night.  But  the  whole 
night  was  spent  in  feasting  and  watching 
the  dancing  girls.  We  also  had  a  nautch, 
a  sort  of  theatrical  performance.  The 
worship  was  all  over.  Formerly  goats 
were  offered  with  the  sweetmeats  in 
sacrifice  to  Kali,  and  sometimes  human 
sacrifices,  but  the  latter  have  been  en- 
tirely done  away  with.  After  the  shouts 
and  exclamations  that  accompanied  the 


KAHDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIEL.          G5 

supposed  arrival  of  the  goddess  had  sub- 
sided, she  was  thought  of  no  more  that 
night.  Such  is  the  Kali  poojah,  one  of 
the'great  acts  of  religions  worship  among 
the  Hindoos. 


Xaifloo. 


66         KAHDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  poojah,  my  uncle 
Chundro  was  talking  to  my  mother,  when 
she  said  to  him  :  "Chundro,  I  was  yery 
sorry  to  see  that  you  did  not  join  in  the 
acts  of  worship  to  our  great  goddess. 
You  did  not  bow  or  prostrate  yourself 
once  before  her.  How  can  you  expect 
that  evil  will  be  averted  from  your  own 
head,  or  from  that  of  our  family,  when 
so  many  of  you  only  look  on,  instead  of 
joining  in  the  solemn  act  of  worship  ?" 

"Why,  sister,  you  could  not  surely 
suppose  that  hideous  thing  which  we 
had  down  there  to  be  a  divine  or  holy 
thing?" 

"Not  after  the  sacred  presence  was 
gone,  but  during  the  time  that  Kali  took 
lip  her  abode  in  it,  it  was  holy ;  and  it 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          G7 

was  your  solemn' duty  to  adore  the  visi- 
ble presence.  You  and  others  of  the 
household  did  not  do  it,  and  I  fear 
calamities  will  befall  our  family.'7 

"  But,  my  sister,  I  cannot  believe  that 
a  great  and  holy  being  could  like  to  be 
represented,  even  for  an  hour,  by  an 
object  such  as  that,  or  would  take  up  its 
abode  in  it,  or  could  wish  to  be  regarded 
as  so  cruel  and  bloodthirsty.  What 
would  you  think  of  any  woman  who 
could  cut  off  the  heads  of  her  enemies, 
then  hang  them  for  a  necklace,  all  bleed- 
ing and  ghastly,  around  her  neck  ?  You 
would  shrink  from  such  a  woman  with 
horror ;  and  surely  these  gods  ought  to 
be  better  than  we.  No,  1  am  disgusted 
with  this  our  religion ;  it  is  only  the 
Christian  religion  that  teaches  of  a  holy 
and  pure  God." 

My  mother  burst  into  a  passionate 
flood  of  tears.  "  0  wicked  blasphe- 


G8         KARDOO,  THE   HIN-DOO   GIHL. 

mer,"  she  said,  "remain  not  li^ere,  or 
you  will  call  down  the  vengeance  of  the 
angry  goddess  on  me  as  well  as  yourself. 
Why,  why  have 'I  listened  to  you  so 
Jong,  instead  of  telling  your  mother  how 
these  beef-eating  Christians  are  destroy- 
ing you !" 

"My  sister,  I  have  not  said  I  was  a 
Christian;  but  indeed,  indeed  I  wish 
that  I  had  been  born  one,  that  I  might 
not  be  tempted  to  distrust  and  abhor 
the  religion  of  my  fathers." 

"What  is  this  that  I  hear,  my  son, 
my  son,  the  jewel  of  my  heart,  my  pearl, 
the  star  of  my  lips,  my  treasure  !??  ex- 
claimed my  grandmother,  who  had  come 
into  the  room  behind  him,  without  his 
being  aware  of  it,  and  heard  his  last 
remark.  "  Oh,  what  is  this  that  I  hear; 
you,  my  moon  of  gold,  my  star  of  silver, 
my  necklace  of  pearl,  to  wish  or  to  think 
of  such  a  thing  as  being  a  Christian  ! 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.         69 

to  be  like  those  beef-eating,  unclean 
Christians,  those  filthy  outcasts  !" 

"  Mother,  I  am  not  a  Christian,  but  I 
have  read  much  about  their  religion.  It 
teaches  of  a  holy  God — a  God  of  love, 
not  one  of  vengeance,  like  that  hideous 
image  we  had  below.  This  great  God 
is  our  Father,  holy  and  pure,  and  he 
wishes  us  to  be  like  him.  He  had  a  dear 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  who  came  into  the 
world  to  bear  the  punishment  due  to  us 
for  our  sins ;  and  oh,  my  mother,  if  we 
believe  in  him,  when  we  die  we  shall  go 
to  live  with  him  for  ever  in  heaven." 

' '  What  nonsense  is  that  you  are  talk- 
ing ?  We  all  know  that  we  are  sinners, 
and  to  expiate  the  sins  we  have  commit- 
ted in  this  life,  we  must  pass  through 
several  births,  either  as  human  beings 
or  as  animals,  until  we  have  performed 
good  deeds  enough  to  outweigh  our  evil 
deeds." 


70         KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIKL. 

;'  Nay,  nay,  my  mother,  God's  Son 
came  into  the  world,  and  died  a  cruel 
death,  as  an  atonement  for  all  our  sins ; 
and  if  we  only  believe  in  him,  there  will 
be  no  future  punishment  for  us,  but  only 
everlasting  happiness." 

"Oh,  this  is  a  dreadful  dream  that 
my  son  should  talk  thus,  that  you  should 
think  or  wish  to  leave  us  or  desert  us! 
Who  was  it  loved '  and  cherished  you 
from  your  earliest  infancy?  and  now, 
my  heart's  treasure,  you  are  thinking  to 
desert  me  !  Oh,  if  such  a  thing  should 
happen,  I  should  die.  I  would  drain  the 
poison  to  its  dregs !  Oh,  that  such  a 
calamity  should  have  befallen  me  !"  and 
she  burst  into  tears,  wringing  her  hands 
and  moaning  piteously. 

Then  suddenly  rising,  with  the  most 
furious  gestures  she  exclaimed,  "I  shall 
curse  you!  Yes,  my  son,  my  heaviest 
curse  will  rest  upon  you,  a  mother's 


KAKDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          71 

curse,  if  I  ever  hear  another  word  like 
this  ?" 

"Oh  no,  my  mother,  curse  me  not, 
curse  me  not !"  he  exclaimed,  falling  at 
her  feet.  "Bless  me,  bless  me,  my 
mother !  It  has  been  my  earnest  love 
to  you,  and  the  dread  only  of  your  curse, 
that  has  kept  me  from  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian. How  can  I  leave  all  I  love — how 
can  I  incur  your  curse !  0  God !  0 
God !  teach  me  what  to  do ;  but  bless 
me  now,  my  mother.7' 

The  old  woman  flung  her  arms  around 
her  son,  lavishing  the  most  endearing 
caresses  upon  him,  and  all  those  tender 
epithets  which  are  used  by  the  Orien- 
tals: "  Jewel  of  my  existence,  I  cannot 
live  without  you.  Your  love  to  me  is 
as  the  sun  to  the  flower — as  the  moon 
in  the  dark  night  to  the  traveller.  Go 
now,  my  beloved  one  ;  I  will  pray  to  the 
gods  to  avert  their  anger  from  you." 


72          KAJIDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIB'L. 

Chundro  left  the  verandali  with  a 
heart-broken  look,  and  immediately  my 
mother  and  grandmother  prostrated 
themselves  before  a  picture  of  Kali  that 
hung  in  my  mother's  room,  and  with 
prayers  and  tears  besought  the  goddess 
not  to  let  her  anger  fall  upon  them,  prom- 
ising many  gifts  and  offerings  to  assuage 
her  wrath.* 

*  These  gifts  and  offerings,  after  being  presented  to  the 
goddess,  go  to  the  gooroo  or  priest ;  therefore  they  are 
constantly  working  upon  the  fears  of  these  poor  women, 
and  giving  instruction  as  to  the  proper  way  in  which  wor- 
ship is  to  be  performed. 


KARDOO    THE    HINDOO    GIRL.          73 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FOR  some  days  after  this  conversation 
with  my  uncle  Chundro,  my  mother  and 
grandmother  were  much  together,  pray- 
ing, weeping,  and  talking  in  subdued 
whispers.  At  length,  one  day  my  grand- 
mother came  into  my  mother's  room  with 
a  bright,  smiling  face,  and  said,  "It  is 
all  right;  I  have  done  it.'7 

"What  is  right?  what  have  you  done  ?" 
inquired  my  mother. 

"  Chundro's  father*  has  business  at 
Benares  which  requires  some  one  to  be 
there  for  some  months.  He  was  going 
himself;  but  I  have  persuaded  him  to 

*  A  woman  never  speaks  of  her  husband  as  my  husband, 
but  always  as  such  a  one's  father ;  and  a  woman,  except 
in  her  father's  house,  is  never  called  by  her  given  name. 
She  is  called  Bo,  which  means  daughter-in-law,  and  ac- 
cording to  which  son's  wife  she  is,  she  is  called  Major  Bo, 
Monar  Bo,  etc. 

10 


74         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

let  Chundro  go  instead.  Thus  he  will 
be  away  a  long  time  from  all  these  Chris-, 
tian  influences,  and  being  in  that  holy 
place,  we  may  hope  that  he  will  soon 
return  to  the  full  faith  in  the  religion  of 
his  forefathers ;  and  should  death  over- 
take him  there,  which  may  Kali  avert, 
even  this  liking  for  the  Christians  will 
not  prevent  his  going  to  heaven.77* 

My  mother  highly  approved  this  plan. 
It  was  their  love  for  him  that  sent  this 
young  man  from  his  home,  for  they  fully 
believed  that  no  more  fearful  calamity 
could  befall  him,  than  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian. 

I  went  up  quietly  to  my  grandmother, 
and  said,  "And  Berash,  grandmother, 
will  she  go  too  with  my  uncle  Chundro, 
or  will  she  be  sent  away  ? 

*  Benares  is  considered  such  a  holy  place  that,  no  mat- 
ter how  wicked  the  person  is  who  dies  there,  even  the 
beef-eating  Christian,  the  vilest  of  all,  goes  directly  to 
heaven. 


KAKDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIKL.          75 

"  No,  child,  no,  you  will  not  lose  your 
little  playfellow ;  Berasli  will  remain 
here." 

I  must  tell  you  who  Berasli  was.  I 
suppose  you  do  not  know  a  very  strange 
and  bad  custom  we  have  here  in  India. 
When  a  little  girl  is  ten  years  old, 
often  younger,  her  father  looks  about 
among  his  acquaintance  to  see  who  has 
a  son  that  is  not  married  ;  generally  a 
young  man  of  eighteen  or  twenty,  some- 
times, it  may  be  an  old  man  of  sixty,  or 
even  seventy.  When  he  finds  one  he 
would  like  for  a  son-in-law,  he  sends  a 
message  to  the  boy's  father,  proposing 
the  marriage.  If  the  father  likes  the 
family,  he  consents  to  the  meeting,  and 
they  talk  the  matter  over  together ;  and 
if  they  can  agree  together  about  the 
money  and  presents  to  be  given  to  the 
children,  the  match  is  decided  upon 
without  the  boy  and  girl  even  seeing 


76         KARDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIRL. 

each  other,  or  having  one  word  to  say 
on  the  subject.  They  are  never  consult- 
ed in  the  matter.  The  presents  are  ex- 
changed, and  in  ,two  or  three  weeks  the 
marriage  ceremony  takes  place.  The 
little  bride  remains  for  a  week  at  her 
father's  house,  where  great  feasting  goes 
on.  She  then  goes  to  her  mother-in-law's 
house  to  -make  her  a  visit  for  a  few  weeks 
or  months.* 

From  the  day  of  her  marriage,  her 
mother-in-law  has  the  control  of  her  ac- 
tions much  more  than  her  mother,  and 
she  continually  insists  on  her  making  vis- 
its to  her,  of  longer  or  shorter  duration, 
according  to  her  pleasure.  These  visits 
are  exceedingly  irksome  to  the  poor  child. 
Instead  of  enjoying  the  uncontrolled  lib- 
erty and  license  of  a  fond  mother,  she 
goes  among  a  number  of  strange  women, 

°  It  is  not  said  she  goes  to  her  husband's,  but  to  her 
mothar-in-law's  house  ;  but  she  does  not  go  to  live  there 
until  three  or  four  years  after  her  marriage. 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.          77 

none  of  whom  she  has  ever  seen  before. 
She  is  made  to  assist  in  the  cooking,  and 
to  learn  to  prepare  those  curries  and 
sweetmeats  of  which  her  husband  is  es- 
pecially fond,  being  constantly  scolded 
for  her  awkwardness.  In  her  mother-in- 
law's  presence  she  must  always  keep  her 
veil,  or  chuddah,  drawn  over  her  face  ; 
she  must  not  speak  above  a  whisper,  or 
sit  down  unless  she  expressly  commands 
her.  In  these  visits  she  rarely  sees  her 
.  husband,  and  therefore  feels  utterly  des- 
olate and  alone. 

Now  Berash  had  been  married  a  few 
months  previous  to  my  uncle  Chundro, 
and  she  was  at  our  house  on  a  long  visit. 
She  was  a  dear  little  thing,  very  pretty 
and  gentle.  I  loved  her  very  much,  and 
we  were  continually  together  ;  though 
whenever  she  saw  Uncle  Chundro  com- 
ing, she  would  run  away  and  hide  her- 
self in  my  grandmother's  room.-  She 


78          KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

had  really  never  seen  him;  for  when  he 
came  near,  she  drew  her  veil  tightly 
over  her  face  ;  and  though  they  -had 
been  married  some  months,  she  had 
scarcely  spoken  to  him.  It  was  decided 
by  my  grandmother  that  Berash  should 
remain  at  our  house  during  my  uncle's 
absence.  I  was  glad  of  this,  for  I  did 
not  want  to  lose  both  my  uncle  and  play- 
fellow too. 

A  few  days  after  this,  my  uncle  Cliun- 
dro  came  to  bid  us  good-by.  He  was  in  . 
good  spirits,  hoping  to  do  well  in  the 
business  which  he  was  about  to  start. 
He  begged  my  mother  to  be  good  and 
kind  to  Berash  ;  and  taking  me  in  his 
arms,  held  me  tightly  for  an  instant,  then 
putting  me  down,  he  said,  "  God  bless 
my  little  Kardoo,"  and  turning  away,  he 
was  gone.  I  little  thought  that  would  be 
the  last  time  I  should  ever  see  him. 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          79 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

ABOUT  a  week  after  my  uncle  Chun- 
dro  went  away,  one  of  my  little  cousins, 
who  lived  in  our  house,  was  married; 
and  as  I  shall  soon  have  to  tell  you  of  my 
own  marriage,  perhaps  you  would  like  to 
know  how  the  ceremony  is  performed. 
I  can  better  tell  you  this  when  another 
was  the  principal  actor,  than  when  I  was 
myself  the  bride,  as  then,  I  was  so  fright- 
ened I  hardly  knew  what  was  done. 

Mohenee,  my  cousin,  was  about  a  year 
older  than  myself.  Two  weeks  after  the 
Kali  poojah,  my  uncle  came  in  and  told 
my  aunt  that  he  had  made  arrangements 
for  Mohenee  to  be  married,  and  that  she 
must  get  every  thing  ready  for  the  wed- 
ding in  two  weeks.  Oh,  what  a  scene  of 
bustle  and  preparation  there  was  in  the 


80         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

house.  What  varieties  of  sweetmeats 
and  curries  had  to  be  made  ;  what  ex- 
changing of  presents,  fruits,  sweetmeats, 
etc.,  daily;*  while  Mohenee,  poor  child, 
was  in  a  great  state  of  fever  and  excite- 
ment. 

Many  thousand  rupees'  worth  of  jew- 
els were  bought  by  her  father  and  given 
to  her,  these  forming  her  wedding  dow- 
er.f  During  these  two  weeks  the  little 
bride  was  constantly  bathed  in  perfumed 
water,  her  feet  and  hands  dyed  each  day 
afresh  with  henna,  and  the  last  four  days 
she  was  obliged  to  sit  holding  in  her  hand 
a  little  instrument  with  which  to  blacken 
her  eyelids  and  lashes.  This  is  in  shape 
like  a  teaspoon  with  a  cover.  The  rea- 

°  Sometimes  a  wedding  costs  sucli  immense  sums  of 
money,  that  the  family  are  impoverished  by  it  for  years. 

f  When  the  bride  goes  to  live  at  her  husband's  house, 
her  mother-in-law  takes  possession  of  these,  and  she  is 
never  allowed  to  wear  them  except  by  her  permission, 
and  then  only  such  as  she  chooses  to  let  her  have. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL.          81 

son  of  this  custom,  as  of  many  others,  I 
never  could  learn.  All  that  any  one 
could  tell,  was,  "It  is  our  custom." 

I  hope  I  shall  not  weary  you  with  the 
many  descriptions  of  our  customs,  but  I 
want  you  to  see  the  difference  between 
our  manners  and  yours,  that  you  may 
the  better  feel  the  reason  you  have  to 
be  grateful  that  you  were  born  in  a 
Christian  land. 

Towards  the  evening  of  her  wedding- 
day,  Mohenee  was  bathed  in  rosewater, 
her  feet  and  hands  dyed  afresh.  She 
was  dressed  in  a  red  silk  sarree  em- 
broidered with  gold,  with  a  golden  bor- 
der. On  her  head  was  an  elegant  or- 
nament of  gold,  most  richly  wrought 
and  set  with  jewels  ;  a  fringe  of  gold 
and  pearls  hanging  over  her  forehead. 
This  is  placed  just  where  the  hair  meets 
the  forehead,  and  passes  round  to  the 
back  of  the  head,  while  from  the  centre 

Kardoo.  11 


82          KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

of  the  forehead  another  band  exactly 
similar  passes  across  the  parting,  and 
joins  the  back  hair.  The  ears  were 
pierced  in  six  places,  and  loaded  down 
with  earrings  of  the  most  exquisite  work- 
manship ;  some  of  them  were  so  long 
they  touched  the  neck,  while  the  hoops 
of  others  were  three  inches  in  diameter. 
A  necklace  of  pearls  clasped  her  throat, 
and  below  this,  around  her  neck,  were  a 
dozen  chains,  each  longer  than  the  up- 
per one,  and  of  different  workmanship. 
Both  arms  were  covered  with  armlets 
and  bracelets,  excepting  just  at  the  bend 
of  the  elbow.  Passing  four  times  around 
her  loins  was  a  very  heavy  gold  chain, 
fastened  by  a  massive  gold  buckle  set 
with  precious  stones. 

She  had  as  many  as  a  dozen  silver 
bangles  on  each  leg,  some  falling  over 
the  foot  as  far  as  the  toes,  these  being 
very  wide,  and  edged  with  a  fringe  of 


KARDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIEL.         83 

small  silver  bells  that  made  a  soft  tink- 
ling noise,  like  little  bells,  as  she  moved. 
If  poor  Mohenee  had  been  obliged  to 
walk,  the  weight  of  the  jewels  would 
have  been  dreadful.  Our  poor  people 
have  never  learned  those  beautiful  words 
of  the  apostle  Paul  to  woman,  that  they 
adorn  themselves  "not  with  broidered 
hair,  or  gold,  or  pearls,  or  costly  array.'1 
They  know  nothing  of  the  beauty  of  ho- 
liness. 

As  soon  as  I  had  seen  Mohenee  dress- 
ed, I  ran  away  into  the  verandah  behind 
the  gods'  house,  that  I  might  see  all  I 
could  of  the  ceremony.  As  I  had  never 
witnessed  a  wedding  before,  I  was  anx- 
ious to  see  all.  At  this  time  there  was  no 
image  of  any  god  in  the  gods'  house,  but 
a  great  part  of  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed there.  When  I  first  looked  down, 
the  two  fathers  were  sitting  there  with 
the  gooroos  of  each  family.  These  goo- 


84         KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIBL. 

roos  were  going  through  a  set  form,  very 
tedious,  which  generally  occupies  an  hour 
or  two,  telling  the  fathers-in-law  what 
was  their  duty,  and  making  all  necessary 
settlements  and  promises.  In  the  mean- 
time the  babus  of  the  house  went  about 
among  the  guests,  sprinkling  them  with 
rosewater  from  a  little  silver  vase,  and 
some  of  the  boys  presented  to  each  guest 
a  bouquet  of  flowers,  and  threw  a  small 
wreath  of  white  flowers  around  each  per- 
son's neck.  Again,  a  small  silver  box 
was  passed  among  the  higher  class  of 
guests,  filled  with  exquisite  perfume  ; 
into  this  each  one  dipped  his  fingers. 
Of  course  the  Brahmins  are  first  served 
with  every  thing. 

While  this  was  going  on,  I  heard  a 
loud  shout : 

"The  bridegroom  comes!"  and  then 
five  or  six  little  girls  of  the  house  (I  was 
thought  too  old  to  join  in  this,  as  they 


KAKDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIRL.    85 

must  not  be  over  six  years  old)  with 
lighted  torches,  ran  through  the  court 
out  into  the  street,  and  brought  in  the 
bridegroom.  He  was  led  in,  and  seated 
on  a  handsome  carpet,  which  had  been 
placed  for  him  in  the  middle  of  the  court. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  sarree  of  dark  pur- 
ple silk ;  on  his  head  a  high  conical  cap, 
like  a  mitre,  made  of  white  silk  and  tin- 
sel. Here  he  remained  sitting  for  about 
half  an  hour ;  one  of  the  gooroos  spoke 
to  him,  and  then  he  went  out  through 
another  passage  under  the  house  to  the 
women's  court.  I  ran  out  quickly  to  see 
what  was  going  on. 

Down  in  the  court  were  a  number  of 
our  women  with  their  chuddahs  drawn 
closely  over  their  faces,  and  most  of  the 
little  children  were  standing  there  also. 
The  bridegroom  was  standing  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  court,  motionless  as  a  statue ; 
and  on  the  ground  nearly  in  front  of  him 


86         KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

stood  a  small  pan  of  flaming  coals.  Near 
his  side  was  the  barber,  blowing  a  trum- 
pet at  intervals.* 

The  barber  continued  blowing  on  his 
horn  for  five  minutes.  Then  five  women 
appeared,  all  closely  veiled,  each  having 
on  her  head  a  sort  of  tray  made  of  wick- 
er-work. The  first  one  was  tlie  bride's 
mother,  who  wore  a  handsome  silk  sar- 
ree.  In  the  tray  on  her  head  she  car- 
ried red  hot  or  blazing  coals,  something 
being  placed  between  the  tray  and  the 
coals  to  prevent  them  burning  through. 
She  also  carried  in  her  hand  a  chatteef 
of  water.  The  other  women  had  each 
various  kinds  of  fruit  in  their  trays. 

They  passed  around  the  bridegroom 
seven  times,  the  mother  spilling  the  wa- 
ter so  as  to. form  a  circle  around  him. 
At  the  seventh  time,  when  .she  was  be- 

o  The  barber  or  barberess,  by  the  way,  is  master  of 
ceremonies,  as  he  or  she  generally  forms  the  match, 
f  A  vessel  for  carrying  water. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.          87 

hind  the  groom,  she  suddenly  threw  the 
tray  of  burning  coals  on  his  head,  they 
falling  at  his  feet  in  front.  She  then 
r'urned  the  tray  wrong  side  up,  and  stood 
upon  it.  With  her  hands  closed  together 
she  touched  his  forehead,  lips,  and  chin 
with  oil,  plantain,  salt,  etc.  She  moved 
away,  and  then  the  little  bride  appeared 
for  the  first  time. 

Mohenee  was  seated  on  a  board,  on 
which  a  variety  of  figures  were  chalked, 
and  was  carried  by  the  barber  and  his 
assistant  six  times  around  the  groom, 
within  the  circle  marked  by  the  water. 
She  was  then  placed  at  his  feet,  still  sit- 
ting on  the  board.  He  had  not  moved 
a  muscle. 

At  this  time  her  sarree  was  not  drawn 

over  her  face,  but  she  held  it  down  so 

that  he  could  not  see  her  at  all.     The 

barber  and  his  assistant  now  lifted  the 

*    bride  to  a  level  with  the  groom's  face ; 


88         KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

a  large  sheet  was  brought  and  held  over 
the  heads  of  all,  the  bride's  mother  and 
one  of  the  aunts  standing  under  the 
sheet.  They  held  lights  close  up  to  the 
pair,  who  were  supposed  now  to  look  at 
each  other  for  the  first  time.  The  bride- 
groom did  not  look  at  his  bride,  how- 
ever, that  I  could  see,  and  poor  little 
Mohenee  kept  her  face  buried  in  her 
hands.  They  remained  in  this  position 
about  five  minutes ;  during  this  time  the 
barber  would  vary  his  performance  of 
blowing  the  horn  by  occasionally  utter- 
ing a  wild  shriek.  This  was  impreca- 
ting curses  on  whoever  should  presume 
to  say  any  thing  evil  of  the  young 
couple. 

The  sheet  was  now  removed,  and  the 
groom  passed  through  the  passage  again 
into  the  gods'  house  ;  Mohenee  was  car- 
ried after  him.  Here  they  were  seated 
opposite  each  other  on  a  circle  elabo- 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          89 

rately  chalked  on  the  floor.  Between 
them  there  was  a  choice  vase  filled  with 
flowers,  on  which  the  back  of  the  groom's 
hand  was  placed  ;  while  the  back  of  the 
bride's  hand  was  placed  in  his.  "Wreaths 
of  flowers  were  then  bound  around  their 
hands,  and  ten  rupees  placed  on  the  top. 
These  were  for  the  priests. 

The  gooroo  of  each  family  now  laid 
down  the  law  most  emphatically  to  the 
opposite  father-in-law.  Not  one  word 
was  said  to  either  of  the  parties  them- 
selves.* Then  Mohenee's  father  and  one 
of  the  priests  seated  themselves  in  front 
of  the  couple.  By  the  father  was  a  large 
silver  dish  filled  with  Ganges  water ;  in 
this  a  beautiful  ruby  ring  and  a  thin  iron 
bracelet  were  placed.  The  ring  was 
given  to  the  groom  and  the  bracelet  to 
the  bride ;  then  some  of  the  water  was 


°  In  case  either  father  is  dead,  the  nearest  male  relative 
takes  his  place. 

12 


90         KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

sprinkled  upon  them,  and  soine  of  the 
flowers  thrown  at  them.  Mohenee  was 
lifted  up,  carried  first  to  his  right  side, 
then  to  his  left.  Here  a  corner  of  their 
sarrees  was  tied  together;  this  pro- 
nounced them  man  and  wife. 

The  groom  then  stood  up ;  Mohenee 
was  placed  standing  in  front  of  him,  with 
her  .back  towards  him,  and  his  arms  were 
put  around  her.  A  plate  was  placed  in 
her  hand  with  some  rice  and  plantains, 
and  a  wisp  of  straw  was  lighted  and 
placed  flaming  at  her  feet.  She  was 
seated  again  at  his  side,  some  red  pow- 
der was  put  upon  her  hair  at  the  front 
parting,  and  the  chuddah  drawn  over 
her  head.* 

The  ceremony  was  now  ended;  the 
groom  went  among  the  babus,  and  the 

°  Until  she  is  married,  a  girl  does  not  wear  the  chud- 
dah over  her  head  ;  that  and  the  red  powder  which  is  put 
on  fresh  every  day  is  a  sign  she  is  married.  A  widow 
never  wears  the  powder. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.          91 

little  bride  came  back  to  us.  The  whole 
night  was  spent  in  feasting,  watching  the 
dancing  girls,  etc.  The  feasting  was 
kept  up  for  several  days.  Then  Mohe- 
iiee  went  for  two  or  three  weeks  to  visit 
'her  mother-in-law. 

Such  were  our  marriage  ceremonies. 
How  different  from  the  simplicity  of  a 
Christian  wedding,  where  the  blessing  of 
God  is  invoked  on  loving  hearts.  I 
could  never  find  out  any  reason  for  all 
these  ceremonies,  except  the  lighting  of 
the  wisp  of  straw.  The  bridegroom  is 
supposed  to  promise  by  this,  that  how- 
ever poor  ,he  may  become,  he  will  at 
least  find  as  much  as  a  wisp  of  straw 
with  which  to  burn  or  scorch  his  wife's 
face  at  her  death. 


92         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

AFTER  my  cousin  Mohenee's  marriage, 
every  thing  went  on  in  its  usual  course  for 
two  or  three  months ;  when  one  day,  as 
I  was  sitting  on  my  mother's  lap  listen- 
ing to  one  of  her  marvellous  stories  about 
the  gods,  we  were  startled  by  the  most 
piercing  shrieks  proceeding  from  my 
grandmother's  room;  and  in  a  minute 
she  appeared,  tearing  her  hair,  uttering 
the  wildest  cries  of  lamentation,  and  ex- 
claiming: "  Oh,  my  son,  my  son!"  She 
flung  herself  on  the  floor,  grovelling  in 
the  dust. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  any  of  us 
could  get  an  account  of  her  anguish. 
We  could  only  tell  that  something  had 
happened  to  one  of  her  sons.  All  of  her 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.         93 

daughters-in-law  were,  standing  round 
her  in  extreme  anxiety,  each  one  dread- 
ing to  hear  some  ill  news  of  her  own  hus- 
band; for 'bad  as  a  husband  may  be,  a 
widow's  fate  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than 
any  other  in  India.  At  length  my  moth- 
er, who  was  a  great  favorite  with  her, 
succeeded  in  drawing  from  her  the  cause 
of  her  grief. 

Her  story  was  very  broken,  being 
continually  interrupted  by  shrieks  and 
wails  of  grief;  in  which,  as  she  proceed- 
ed, she  was  joined  by  all  the  other  wom- 
en present. 

Her  account  was  briefly  this.  My 
uncle  Chundro  had  settled  in  Benares, 
and  was  carrying  on  successfully  the 
business  his  father  had  intrusted  to 
him,  when  one  evening  he  left  his  place 
of  business  to  return  to  his  house,  with  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  about  him. 
He  never  reached  his  home  ;  for  the  next 


94         KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

morning  his  body  was  found  in  the  road. 
He  had  been  strangled  and  robbed. 

The  neighborhood  where  his  body  was 
found  had  long  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  noted  haunt  of  Thugs.  It  was 
a  piece  of  jungle,  or  land  covered  with 
brushwood  and  low,  stunted  trees.  My 
uncle  had  been  warned  never  to  pass  by 
there  alone  after  dark ;  but  he  was  a 
brave,  courageous  young  man,  and  be- 
lieved that  most  of  the  stories  he  had 
heard  of  that  place  were  untrue ;  so  he 
paid  for  his  daring  with  his  life.  This 
was,  as  you  may  suppose,  a  very  sad 
tale  for  us  to  hear,  and  heart-rending 
was  the  grief  that  accompanied  the  tell- 
ing. The  only  thing  that  could,  in  the 
least  mitigate  the  anguish  was,  that  it 
had  taken  place  in  Benares ;  therefore 
the  soul  of  the  departed  had  gone  to 
live  with  the  gods  ;  but  the  last  sad  rites 
had  been  performed  for  him  by  strangers. 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          95 

Before  I  go  on  with  my  story,  1  must 
stop  to  tell  you  who  and  what  are  the 
Thugs.  They  are  a  sect  of  men  in"  India 
devoted  to  the  worship  or  service  of 
Kali.  Now  you  must  remember  that 
Kali  is  the  goddess  of  vengeance ;  that 
she  hates  all  mankind,  and  takes  delight 
in  their  misery  and  death ;  consequently, 
continual  sacrifices  are  offered  to  her, 
to  avert  evil  from  the  heads  of  those 
who  are  supposed  to  have  fallen  under 
her  displeasure.  But  the  sacrifices  she 
likes  best  are  human  sacrifices.  For 
this  reason  the  Thugs  are  continually 
seeking  new  victims  to  offer  to  her. 
They  are  a  sort  of  secret  brotherhood, 
known  to  each  other,  but  to  no  one  else  ; 
Because  were  they  known,  they  would 
be  both  feared  and  hated.  A  man  may 
he- a  Thug,  and  his  nearest  friend  not 
know  it ;  but  the  father  teaches  the  sons, 
so  that  Thugism  descends  in  families. 


96         KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

A  Thug  being  once  caught  and  sen- 
tenced to  death  for  his  crime,  acknowl- 
edged that  he  had  put  to  death  between 
forty  and  fifty.  On  being  asked  if  he 
did  not  feel  sorry  or  grieved  for  what 
he  had  done,  he  declared  he  did  not; 
why  should  he  ?  His  father  was  a  Thug  ; 
he  was  born  a  Thug;  it  was  the  busi- 
ness to  which  he  was  born ;  how  could 
he  help  himself.  In  India,  a  son  always 
follows  the  same  calling  as  his  father. 

If  a  Hindoo  is  known  to  say  a  word 
disrespectful  of  any  of  the  gods,  that 
man  is  immediately  marked  out  for  de- 
struction ;  and  he  is  watched  and  fol- 
lowed, until  some  convenient  time  ar- 
rives to  despatch  him.  The  victim  is 
always  strangled  ;  the  instrument  of 
death  being  ever  at  hand.  The  long 
cloth  worn  by  the  natives  of  India  can 
in  an  instant  be  stripped  off  the  person, 
and  wound  around  the  neck  of  the  vie- 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.         97 

tim.  They  become  so  expert  in  this, 
that  no  cry  can  ever  escape  the  lips. 
All  that  is  known  is,  that  the  frightful- 
looking  corpse  is  found  lying  on  its  back, 
with  distended  eyes,  protruding  tongue, 
and  clenched  hands.  As  every  corpse 
that  has  been  destroyed  by  the  Thugs  is 
found  in  precisely  the  same  attitude, 
with  its  tongue  and  eyes  resembling 
somewhat  the  pictures  of  Kali,  they  are 
instantly  known  as  victims  dedicated  to 
her.  Therefore  these  poor  infatuated 
idolaters  never  seek  to  find  the  murder- 
ers and  bring  them  to  punishment ;  fear- 
ing if  they  did  so,  a  terrible  vengeance 
from  Kali.  Eich  persons,  or  those  car- 
rying money  about  them,  are  thus  con- 
tinually murdered,  as  whatever  prop- 
erty the  victim  has  about  him  belonged 
by  right  to  the  self-constituted  priest  of 
Kali. 

Now  Benares,  though  the  most  holy 

K.rdoo.  13 


98          KAKDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIRL. 

city,  was  also  the  most  noted  resort  of 
these  Thugs ;  for  one  reason — rich  per- 
sons were  constantly  coming  there  to 
offer  gifts  at  the  temples.  But  the  prin- 
cipal reason  was  this :  to  kill  a  Brah- 
min was  a  crime  which  nothing  could 
expiate.  A  Thug  might,  and  frequently 
did,  kill  a  Brahmin  by  mistake ;  but  if 
he  lived  and  died  in  the  holy  city,  he 
need  not  trouble  himself  whether  his 
victims  were  Brahmins  or  not,  as  even 
the  crime  of  killing  fifty  Brahmins  would 
not  prevent  his  going  to  heaven. 

Such  I  say  was  Thugism  ;  for  since 
the  English  rule  in  India,  these  murder- 
ers have  been  hunted  down,  though 
their  crimes  were  of  frequent  occurrence 
at  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing. 

The  day  after  we  heard  of  the  death  of 
my  uncle  was  spent  by  all  the  females  of 
our  family  in  weeping,  fasting,  and  pray- 
ers. Yows,  mingled  with  imprecations  on 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.          99 

Kali,  were  continually  pouring  from  the 
lips  of  some,  while  a  goat,  with  some 
rice,  fruits,  etc.,  was  sent  to  the  goo- 
roo,  for  him  to  offer  in  the  temple  of 
Kali,  of  which  there  were  several  in  the 
city. 

Then  began  the  sufferings  of  my  poor 
little  friend  Berasli.  My  grandmother 
immediately  declared  that  henceforth 
she  was  never, to  return  to  her  father's 
house,  but  remain  with  us  to  live  out 
her  widowhood.  She  was  just  eleven 
years  old.  My  grandmother  continu- 
ally lamented  that  on  account  of  her 
son's  dying  so  far  away  from  home,  the 
proper  respect  could  not  be  paid  to  him 
at  his'  funeral,  of  having  his  wife  burned 
with  him.  As  Berasli  could  not  suffer 
death  with  her  husband,  my  grandmother 
considered  it  an  incumbent  duty,  in  honor 
of  his  memory,  to  make  the  poor  child's 
life  one  of  suffering,  by  exacting  most 


100       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

rigorously  all  the  penalties  and  inflic- 
tions imposed  upon  widows. 

Every  girl,  or  wife,  wears  at  least  one 
gold  necklace,  with  a  bracelet  on  each 
arm ;  but  from  the  moment  she  becomes 
a  widow,  she  is  never  permitted  the 
slightest  ornament.  She  is  stripped  of 
her  jewelry.  The  henna  is  carefully 
removed  from  her  feet  and  finger-nails  ; 
she  is  clothed  in  a  sarree  of  very  coarse 
cloth,  without  a  border  such  as  is  gen- 
erally worn  by  the  women.  She  must 
never  sleep  again  on  a  bedstead,  but 
must  always  lie  on  a  mat  on  the  floor. 
She  must  never  sit  down  in  the  pres- 
ence of  her  mother-in-law  or  elder  sis- 
ters-in-law, unless  they  expressly  com- 
mand her  to  do  so.  She  must  do  all 
the  commonest,  meanest  drudgery  in 
the  house,  and  never  eat  until  every 
one  else  has  finished,  and  then  very 
sparingly,  and  of  the  poorest  food.  But 


KAKDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       101 

worse  than  all,  besides  many'  occasional 
fasts,  she  is  compelled  to  fast  two  whole 
days  in  each  week,  not  a  drop  of  water 
being  allowed  to  pass  her  lips,  even  if 
she  is  dying;  and  the  sufferings  from 
thirst  in  this  hot  climate  are  dreadful. 

If  a  woman's  husband  dies  worth  ever 
so  much  money,  she  has  no  benefit  of  it. 
His  eldest  male  relative  becomes  her 
guardian,  and  he  doles  out  to  her  just 
enough  for  a  bare  subsistence,  and  the 
rest  all  goes  to  her  husband's  male  rela- 
tions. If  she  has  children,  the  same 
person  is  their  guardian;  and  he  gives 
what  he  sees  fit  for  their  education,  sup- 
port, marriage,  etc.  Such  is  the  unhap- 
py lot  of  a  poor  widow  in  our  country. 
Oh,  how  different  from  the  commands  of 
the  Christian's  God  with  regard  to  the 
"  widow  and  the  fatherless!" 

My  dear  little  Berash  was  a  very  del- 
icate child — very  gentle  and  timid.  She 


102       KAEDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIKL. 

submitted  without  a  murmur  or  com- 
plaint to  all  that  my  grandmother  com- 
manded ;  but  the  rigorous  course  of 
treatment  which  she  endured  was  too 
much  for  her  tender  frame,  and  a  few 
short  months  ended  her  career  on  earth. 
During  the  last  few  months  of  her  life, 
she  became  so  enfeebled  that  she  could 
do  nothing  but  lie  on  the  mat. 

The  whole  time  that  she  was  ill,  no 
one  came  near,  to  give  her  food  or  speak 
a  kind  word  to  her,  except  my  dear 
mother  and  myself.  If  she  was  too 
weak  any  day  to  crawl  to  the  place 
where  her  food  was  placed,  she  had  to 
go  without  it  until  one  of  us  brought  it 
for  her.  She  was  a  widow ;  and  accord- 
ing to  the  women's  superstitions,  if  they 
showed  pity  or  compassion  for  her,  the 
like  calamity  would  befall  them.  But 
my  beloved  mother,  though  she  believed 
moro  truly,  in  all  their  superstitions  than 


KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       103 

the  rest  did,  yet  would  not  be  prevent- 
ed, by  the  fear  of  dreadful  misfortune  to 
herself,  from  doing  all  she  could  to  re- 
lieve the  poor  little  sufferer. 

The  day  before  she  died,  Berash  called 
me  to  come  and  lie  down  on  the  mat  be- 
side her.  She  was  lying  out  on  the  ve- 
randah, and  had  for  some  time  been  sha- 
ding her  eyes  with  her  hands,  and  look- 
ing up  into  the  sky.  "  Kardoo,  tell  me 
again  what  your  uncle*  told  you  about 
that  beautiful  place  up  there,  and  the 
good  God  who  lives  there.  You  said 
your  uncle  told  you  he  was  not  like 
Kali,  who  hates  us,  but  that  he  loves  us 
like  a  father.  Oh,  how  I  want  some- 
body to  love  me.  Your  dear  mother 
speaks  kindly  to  me,  and  looks  sorry 
for  me,  but  I  want  somebody  to  love 
me  like  my  own  dear  mother." 

*  No  woman  ever  uses  the  given  name  of  her  husband  ; 
and  if  she  meets  with  it  in  reading,  she  will  not  speak  it 
aloud. 


104       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

"  I  love  you,  Berash,"  I  said. 

She  put  her  poor  little  thin  arms 
about  me,  and  put  her  cheek  to  mine. 
"Yes,  I  know  you  do,'7  she  said,  "and 
I  love  you ;  but  I  want  some  one  who  is 
strong  to  love  me,  who  is  very  strong, 
I  feel  so  weak  and  helpless.  I  know 
I  am  going  away  from  this  world  very 
soon,  and  oh,  it  makes  me  so  frightened 
to  think  of  what  they  tell  me — that 
because  I  was  not  burned  with  your  un- 
cle, as  soon  as  I  leave  this  body  I  shall 
become  some  ugly  animal.  I  could  not 
help  his  dying  when  he  was  away,  and 
if  he  had  been  here  I  know  not  what  I 
should  have  done,  for  oh,  it  must  be  so 
dreadful  to  be  burned!  But  tell  me 
again  about  that  God  who  lives  up 
there." 

I  told  her  again,  as  I  had  done  several 
times,  all  that  my  uncle  Chundro  had 
told  me :  that  the  God  who  lives  in 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       105 

heaven  loves  us,  and  always  likes  to  see 
us  happy ;  that  we  were  all  sinful,  and 
often  did  things  that  God  did  not  like  ; 
but  that  God  had  a  Son — I  could  not 
tell  his  name — who  loved  us  very  much ; 
that  he  had  done  something — I  could  not 
tell  what  it  was — that  had  pleased  the 
great  God ;  and  that  now,  if  we  asked 
God  to  forgive  us  the  naughty  things 
we  had  done,  he  would  forgive  us  for 
that  Son's  sake ;  and  then,  when  we  die, 
instead  of  being  changed  into  some  ani- 
mal, we  should  go  up  to  live  above  the 
sky ;  and  oh,  he  said  that  was  such  a 
beautiful  place,  and  if  anybody  went 
there  they  would  never  be  sick  any  more, 
nor  hungry,  nor  thirsty,  and  this  Son  of 
God  would  love  them  and  take  care  of 
them. 

"  Oh,  I  should  like  it  so  much,  Kar- 
doo.     I  have  prayed  to  that  God  ever 
since  you  told  me  about  him.    I  pray  to 
14 


106       KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL. 

him  every  day  that,  because  his  Son  was 
good,  he  would  love  me,  and  let  me  go 
to  live  in  that  beautiful  place." 

"But,  Berash,  I  do  not  know  that  it 
is  true.  Uncle  Chundro  said  it  was,  but 
mother  said  it  was  not  true ;  but  then  I 
think  my  uncle  must  know  best,  because 
he  knew  so  much  more  than  my  mother." 

"Well,  Kardoo,  my  mother  used  to 
say  that  there  were  a  great  many  gods, 
so  many  that  one  person  could  not  re- 
member them  all,  and  that  they  very 
often  quarrelled  and  were  angry  with 
each  other ;  and  then,  if  anybody  offend- 
ed one  of  these  gods,  the  other  was 
pleased  with  him,  and  would  reward 
him.  Now  Kali  is  angry  with  me,  and 
the  Tuckoo-Ma*  tells  me  that  she  will 
never  forgive  me,  and  that,  after  I  have 
been  born  into  the  world  many  times,  if 
I  ever  get  to  heaven,  it  will  be  because 

°  Grandmother,  female  head  of  the  house. 


KAEDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIRL.        107 

some  other  god  has  helped  me.  I  have 
thought  about  this  a  great  many  times. 
For  many  weeks  I  have  been  too  weak 
to  go  to  pay  poojah  to  Sheve,  and  you 
told  me  that  your  uncle  Chundro  called 
this  god  the  great  God,  and  said  that  we 
might  pray  to  him  at  any  time,  or  in  any 
place,  and  he  would  hear  us.  Oh,  I  do 
hope  he  is  a  greater  God  than  Kali,  then 
perhaps  he  can  help  me.  I  ask  him 
every  day  to  help  me,  because  of  what 
his  Son  did.  I  wish  I  knew  what  that 


was.7' 


She  lay  for  a  long  time  perfectly  ex- 
hausted, a  burning  spot  in  each  cheek, 
her  eyes  bright  and  her  lips  parched. 
At  length  she  turned  to  me,  imploring 
me  to  give  her  a  few  drops  of  water  from 
the  lota  in  my  mother's  room.  "I  know 
it  is  very  wicked  to  do  it  to-day  ;  but  oh, 
I  suffer  so  much,  and,  Kardoo,  I  have 
several  times  crawled  to  your  mother's 


108       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

room  and  taken  some  water  when  you 
were  all  away.  I  knew  it  was  very 
wicked  to  do  it  on  these  fast  days ;  but 
I  could  not  help  it,  and  I  prayed  direct- 
ly to  the  great  God,  who,  you  said,  does 
not  like  to  see  us  in  pain,  to  forgive  me 
Oh,  give  me  some  now  !" 

At  first  I  refused ;  I  did  not  dare.  1 
knew  my  grandmother  would  punish  me 
most  severely  if  I  were  caught  giving 
her  any ;  but  at  length  I  thought  of  an 
expedient  to  alleviate  her  sufferings,  and 
yet  not  run  the  risk  of  being  caught.  I 
ran  to  the  lota  and  dipped  the  corner  of 
my  sarree  into  the  water,  then  returned 
and  squeezed  the  drops  of  water  into 
her  mouth.  This  I  repeated  several 
times,  till  her  thirst  was  somewhat  re- 
lieved. She  then  put  her  little  arms 
around  my  neck,  and  whispered,  "  I 
think  I  shall  go  to  sleep  now  ;  but,  Kar- 
doo,  if  the  great  God  hears  me,  and  lets 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       109 

me  go  to  that  beautiful  place,  then  I  will 
ask  him  to  let  you  come  there  to." 

I  left  her  for  a  time.  Before  going  to 
bed  I  went  to  her  again,  and  she  was 
sleeping.  The  next  morning  when  I 
awoke,  I  found  they  were  just  preparing 
to  take  Berash  away  to  the  burning 
ghat.*  She  had  passed  away  in  the 
night;  how,  or  when,  no  one  knew.  She 
was  found  cold  and  stiff.  She  was  so 
small  and  emaciated  by  sickness,  that  a 
bier  was  not  needed  to  carry  her.  A 
bier  is  a  coarse  frame  of  wood  with  rope 
woven  across  it,  on  which  the  bodies  of 
adults  are  carried  to  the  burning  ghat, 
where  a  pile  of  wood  is  erected ;  the 
body  laid  upon  it ;  more  wood  is  piled 
upon  that ;  the  pile  is  kindled,  and  the 
body  left  to  be  consumed.  In  cases  of 

*  The  burning  gliat  is  a  large  enclosed  space  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges,  where  the  dead  bodies  are  burned, 
and  the  ashes  cast  into  the  river.  If  they  are  only  par- 
tially consumed,  the  remains  are  then  cast  into  the  river- 


110        KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

the  poorer  class,  or  of  young  girls,  this 
expense  is  rarely  incurred,  it  being  then 
considered  sufficient  just  to  light  a  large 
wisp  of  straw,  blacken  the  face  with  it, 
and  then  cast  the  body  into  the  Ganges. 

The  little  body  of  Berash  was  thrown 
over  the  shoulder  of  a  servant,  covered 
with  a  cloth,  aud  carried  to  the  burning 
ghat.  Then  she  was  laid  on  the  ground, 
while  the  servant  went  to  buy  a  small 
bundle  of  straw.  This  he  lighted  and 
blackened  her  face  with  it ;  and  then  the 
poor  little  body  was  flung  into  the  Gan- 
ges, to  be  eaten  by  a  shark  or  alligator. 
I  doubt  not  that  her  liberated  spirit  was 
carried  by  angels  into  the  presence  of 
her  Redeemer. 

Since  I  have  become  a  Christian  and 
learned  to  know  somewhat  of  the  love  of 
God  in  Christ,  I  feel  a  strong  hope  of 
meeting  that  little  one  hereafter  in  "the 
the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son."  Did 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       Ill 

any  ever  coine  to  Him,  in  however  fee- 
ble or  impotent  a  manner,  and  were  cast 
out. 

Oh,  how  I  mourned  and  wept  for  my 
little  friend !  My  mother  shed  a  few 
tears  ;  but  her  name  was  not  mentioned, 
nor  did  her  death  seem  to  be  more 
thought  of  than  that  of  a  dog. 

Dear  readers,  you  can  little  know  how 
a  false  religion  hardens  the  heart,  and 
deadens  it  to  all  the  holiest  feelings  of 
humanity. 


112       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

IT  was  thought,  now  that  my  uncle 
Chundror  who  had  slighted  the  goddess, 
and  his  little  wife  were  both  dead,  her 
vengeance  would  be  appeased  for  a  time  ; 
but  fresh  troubles  were  in  store  for  us. 
My  brother  Prosonno  was  stricken  down 
with  a  most  alarming  sickness.  He  was 
my  mother's  idol;  the  fondest,  deepest 
devotion  of  her  heart  was  lavished  upon 
him,  her  first-born,  her  son.*  My  moth- 
er had  lost  three  little  ones,  who  had 
only  seen  the  light  before  they  were 
taken  from  the  evil  to  come ;  and  now 
he,  her  pride,  her  joy,  lay  for  days  hov- 
ering between  life  and  death.  Her  grief 
and  anguish  were  unutterable.  She  felt 

°  Ask  Hindoo  parents  how  many  children  they  have, 
and  they  will  answer,  One  child  and  three  girls.  Girls  are 
regarded  with  perfect  contempt,  in  comparison  with  boys. 


KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.       113 

that  now  the  wrath  of  Kali  was  being 
poured  upon  her  head,  for  ever  having 
heard  the  disparaging  words  spoken  by 
my  uncle  Chundro.  She  vowed  many 
gifts  and  sacrifices  to  Kali,  if  her  boy 
was  only  spared. 

At  length,  in  the  extremity  of  her 
grief,  she  made  a  solemn  vow,  that  if 
her  Prosonno  was  spared  to  her,  and  if 
she  had  another  son,  she  would  sacrifice 
him  to  Kali.  My  father  was  present, 
heard  and  approved  the  vow;  and  as 
from  that  time  Prosonno  began  to  get 
better,  it  was  supposed  that  the  goddess 
had  heard  and  accepted  the  vow. 

During  my  brother's  illness  I  saw 
more  of  my  father  than  I  had  done  for 
years,  all  the  spare  time  he  could  get 
being  passed  in  nursing  and  attending 
my  brother,  which  he  did  with  a  wom- 
an's tenderness  and  patience,  sitting  be- 
side him  for  hours,  bathing  his  brow, 

Kardoo.  15 


114       KAKDOO,   THE    HINDOO    GIRL. 

fanning,  and  rubbing  his  weared  limbs ; 
for  was  he  not  his  son,  his  pride,  his 
glory,  his  only  child ! 
.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  all,  Prosonno 
recovered,  and  about  five  months  after, 
my  little  brother  Luckie  was  born,  a 
beautiful,  bright,  healthy  little  fellow. 

But  now  who  can  describe  the  hourly 
pain  that  wrung  my  mother's  heart  ? 
Formerly  she  had  worn  a  cheerful,  hap- 
py look,  with  a  smile  of  welcome  to  me 
when  I  entered  her  presence.  Now  she 
never  smiled.  She  would  hold  her  little 
one  in  her  arms,  with  her  eyes  riveted 
on  its  form,  the  slow  tears  coursing  down 
her  cheeks ;  and  if  any  one  hastily  en- 
tered the  room,  she  would  clasp  her 
babe  to  her  breast,  as  if  she  expected 
it  to  be  torn  from  her  arms. 

My  father  never  took  any  notice  of 
the  babe ;  never  nursed  or  caressed  it, 
as  all  fathers  do  their  infant  children 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL.        115 

here,  particularly  their  boys.  And  when 
his  eyes  fell  upon  it,  he  would  turn  away 
with  a  stern,  angry  look,  which  I  could 
not  then  understand  ;  for  at  that  time  I 
knew  nothing  of  the  vow,  and  therefore 
was  not  aware  that  he  was  trying  to 
steel  his  heart  against  his  child.  My 
father  was  a  bigoted  Hindoo  ;  the  laws, 
customs,  and  religion  of  his  forefathers 
must  be  most  strictly  observed,  though 
it  should  cost  him  all  that  was  dear  on 
earth,  even  his  life. 

I  could  not  understand  how  it  was, 
that  when  other  mothers  looked  with 
delight  upon  their  smiling  infants,  my 
mother's  look  upon  her  babe,  who  I 
thought  more  beautiful  than  any  I  had 
ever  seen,  should  be  only  one  of  grief. 
It  was  my  constant  delight  to  help  her 
tend  this  child  ;  to  no  other  arms  but 
mine  was  he  ever  intrusted,  and  never 
would  she  for  an  instant  trust  him  out 


116       KAKDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIKL. 

of  her  sight.  When  she  was  cooking,  I 
would  be  beside  her,  with  the  dear  little 
fellow  ever  in  view. 

When  our  little  Luckie  was  six  months 
old,  my  mother  received  a  visit  from  the 
gooroo,  accompanied  by  my  father.  It 
was  then  I  heard  for  the  first  time  of  the 
vow  concerning  my  little  brother,  and 
that  my  mother  with  her  own  hands  was 
to  cast  him  into  the  Ganges.  The  old 
Brahmin  had  come  now  to  insist  upon 
the  performance  of  the  vow,  threatening 
Kali's  direct  vengeance  if  it  was  not  per- 
formed. My  father  upholding  the  goo- 
roo, my  mother  in  a  wild  burst  of  an- 
guish, flung  herself  at  the  gooroo's  feet, 
clasping  them  in  her  hands,  kissing  the 
ground,  and  imploring  in  heart-rending 
accents  for  a  little  delay.  She  would 
keep  her  vow,  she  would  give  her  child 
as  she  -had  promised,  but  oh,  let  her 
keep  him  a  little  while  longer  until  she 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        117 

could  wean  her  heart  from  him  ;  she 
would  do  it,  only  give  her  a  little  time. 
She  was  not  well,  not  strong  enough  to 
lake  the  journey  now  ;  as  soon  as  she 
was  quite  well  she  would  do  it.  Her 
anguish  would  have  touched  the  hardest 
heart. 

My  father  was  moved  by  her  entrea- 
ties, and  besought  the  gooroo  to  offer  a 
goat  now,  and  he  would  promise  in  a  few 
weeks,  when  my  mother  was  stronger, 
the  vow  should  be  accomplished.  The 
old  priest  went  away  very  much  dis- 
pleased, muttering  that  we  might  expect 
more  trouble  if  we  thus  treated  the  sa- 
cred gods. 

From  that  time  I  could  fully  join  in 
my  mother's  feeling  for  the  little  dar- 
ling ;  and  as  day  after  day  passed,  how 
precious  did  he  become  in  my  eyes. 
And  then  a  feeling  of  great  horror  crept 
over  me,  as  I  thought  perhaps  all  this 


118       KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

trouble  had  come  upon  us  on  my  ac- 
count ;  for  had  I  not  helped  Berash  to 
pray  to  the  great  God  against  Kali ! 
Oh,  dear  friends,  thank  God  that  you 
were  brought  up  in  the  Christian  faith, 
to  know,  not  a  God  of  hate,  but  a  God 
of  love  :  "The  Lord  God,  merciful  and 
gracious,  long  suffering,  and  abundant  in 
goodness." 

For  nearly  three  months  longer  we 
kept  our  little  treasure,  my  mother  still 
continuing  very  weak,  and  struggling 
with  a  constant,  slow  fever,  brought  on, 
I  believe,  by  excitement.  Then  my  fa- 
ther was  taken  down  with  cholera  ;  he 
got  over  it,  but  for  several  days  after  he 
was  very  low  ;  at  length  he  recovered. 
My  mother  then  told  me  that  she  was 
going  to  accompany  my  father  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  a  mela  ;  they  would  be  gone 
for  a  week  or  two,  and  of  course  must 
take  the  baby  with  them. 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.        119 

The  melas  are  certain  religious  festi- 
vals held  at  holy  spots  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ganges  at  stated  seasons  of  the  year. 
To  attend  them  and  worship  for  some 
days,  is  considered  a  great  and  merito- 
rious act  of  religion,  and  thither  multi- 
tudes of  every  class  resort.  Women  of 
the  highest  caste,  who  all  the  rest  of 
their  lives  are  kept  in  the  strictest  se- 
clusion, may  attend .  them.  A  number 
of  tents  are  pitched  here,  as  the  mela 
lasts  for  several  weeks,  and  the  richer 
portion  of  the  pilgrims  use  these  tents. 
Here  also  are  collected  a  number  of  the 
holy  jogees,  or  fakirs,  of  whom  I  shall 
tell  you  more  hereafter,  and  an  innu- 
merable company  of  peddlers  of  every 
description,  to  sell  their  wares. 

My  mother  told  me  that  my  father  was 
going  to  perform  this  pilgrimage  out  of 
thankfulness  to  the  gods  for  his  recov- 
ery, and  he  wished  her  to  go  with  him. 


120       KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

I  begged  to  be  allowed  to  go,  but  was 
instantly  told  I  could  not. 

My  heart  sank  within  me  directly.  I 
feared,  but  dared  not  express  my  fears, 
that  Luckie,  my  darling,  was  to  be  sac- 
rificed. Since  the  first  day  my  father 
was  taken  ill,  my  mother  was  so  altered. 
I  had  not  once  seen  her  kiss  or  embrace 
her  darling.  No  tear  was  in  her  eye 
when  she  looked  at  him.  She  only  took 
him  in  her  arms  to  feed  him.  There  was 
something  about  her  I  could  not  under- 
stand. She  seemed  petrified  to  stone. 
Her  every  movement  seemed  as  though 
it  were,  by  some  means,  independent  of 
her  will. 

During  my  father's  illness,  thus  the 
babe  became  my  especial  charge,  and 
oh,  how  every  chord  of  my  heart  was 
wound  around  that  little  one.  At  length 
the  day  came  when  they  were  to  start 
on  their  pilgrimage.  My  mother  and 


KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL.       121 

her  babe  went  in  one  palky,  and  a  maid- 
servant in  another.  I  cannot  tell  you 
what  I  felt  when  I  bade  my  little  dar- 
ling a  last  good-by,  as  I  felt  sure  it 
would  be. 

Perhaps  you  will  think  that  I  am  ex- 
pressing feelings  too  strong  for  a  child ; 
but  remember  that  in  India  girls  are 
women,  and  often  mothers,  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  Then  remember  too,  that  we^ 
have  no  dolls  to  love  or  care  for  or 
think  about.  When  we  do  love,  we  lo^  e 
intensely. 


16 


122       KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 

IN  about  ten  days  my  father  and 
mother  returned,  and,  as  I  had  feared, 
without  the  baby.  To  all  my  questions, 
tears,  entreaties,  or  endearments,  my 
mother  returned  no  answer,  still  pre- 
serving the  same  frigid  appearance  and 
manner.  It  seemed  as  if  her  heart  had 
really  been  turned  to  stone.  I  never 
again  received  from  her  any  of  those 
caresses  she  had  been  wont  to  lavish 
upon  me.  The  servant  who  went  with 
my  mother  did  not  return  for  a  week 
after.  From  her  I  obtained  an  account 
of  the  sacrifice  of  my  brother.  My  fa- 
ther intended  to  remain  five  days  at  the 
mela.  During  these  days  he  and  my 
mother  were  continually  performing  re- 
ligious rites.  On  the  evening  of  the 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL.        123 

fifth,  my  brother  was  to  be  devoted  to 
the  goddess,  and  then  they  were  imme- 
diately to  return  home.  I  will  give  you 
the  servant's  account  of  that  day. 

"  The  previous  evening,  your  mother 
took  the  baby  from  my  arms  and  lulled 
him  to  sleep.  She  then  sat  gazing  at 
him,  without  moving  a  finger,  for  at  least 
an  hour.  The  gooroo  had  told  her  it 
would  impair  the  benefit  of  the  sacrifice 
if  she  wept  or  mourned.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  she  quickly  arose,  and  placed 
the  child  in  my  arms  without  a  word. 
He  slept  with  me.  The  next  day  when 
he  cried,  she  told  me  to  feed  him,  but 
she  never  looked  at  him. 

About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
while  he  was  sleeping  in  my  arms,  she 
came  and  took  him  from  me,  casting  part 
of  her  chuddah  over  the  infant's  face. 
She  bade  me  follow.  She  walked  quickly 
down  to  the  river's  brink,  and  without 


124       KA11DOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

pausing  an  instant,  flung  her  babe  from 
her  as  far  as  she  could  into  the  water. 
He  sunk,  rose  again  instantly,  and  as 
instantly  the  immense  head  and  open 
jaws  of  an  alligator  appeared  beside  him  ; 
the  next  moment  the  headless  trunk  of 
the  babe  floated  before  us,  dyeing  the 
water  with  its  blood.  Your  mother  ut- 
tered a  wild  cry,  and  would  have  flung 
herself  after  the  child,  had  I  not  held 
her  back.  In  a  few  moments  she  fell  to 
the  earth  in  strong  convulsions.  I  called 
some  men,  who  assisted  me  to  carry  her 
to  her  tent.  For  two  or  three  days  she 
was  very  ill.  On  recovering,  she  told 
me  on  no  account  to  mention  her  babe 
to  her  again ;  and  if  you  love  your  moth- 
er, you  will  not,  Kardoo." 

I  did  love  my  mother,  and  I  thank 
God  who  enabled  me  from  that  hour  to 
determine  that  I  would  nevermore  be 
disobedient  to  her,  as  I  had  some- 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        125 

times  been,  but  would  try  by  every 
means  I  could  to  make  up  for  the  little 
one  she  had  lost.  Never  after  but  once 
did  I  hear  her  allude  to  the  child.  She 
was  talking  to  me  of  our  duty  to  the 
gods,  and  I  was  expressing  strong  repug- 
nance to  what  was  required  of  us.  A 
shiver  passed  over  her  frame  ;  and  lay- 
ing her  hand  solemnly  on  my  head,  "Oh, 
my  child,  my  child,  speak  not  so  !  If  we 
rebel  against  the  gods,  or  think  hard 
thoughts  of  them,  they  will  punish  us 
until  we  repent,  ay,  taking  from  us  our 
very  heart's  blood.  And  why  should 
they  not?  They  are  all-powerful,  they 
made  us,  they  give  us  all  that  we  have, 
and  we  must  do  what  they  wish  us." 

You  will  think,  my  dear  young  friends, 
that  I  am  telling  you  a  very  sad  story, 
and  indeed  I  am,  for  •"  The  dark  places 
of  the  earth  are  full  of  the  abodes  of  cru- 
elty." 


126       KARDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIEL. 

My  mother  from  this  time  never  recov- 
ered her  cheerfulness ;  she  never  told 
me  any  more  of  the  stories  I  loved  to 
listen  to.  She  was  quiet  and  gentle,  but 
never  spoke  unless  she  was  obliged  to. 
You  will  ask  me  if  I  had  no  pleasure,  no 
enjoyment  in  my  life?  Such  as  I  have 
told  you  of,  at  the  poojahs,  or  at  wed- 
dings, when  we  had  plenty  of  sweetmeats 
to  eat,  and  could  look  down  through  our 
screen  at  what  was  going  on. 

When  I  was  about  eleven  years  old, 
my  father  came  to  my  mother's  room 
one  day,  and  told  her  she  must  make 
arrangements  speedily  for  my  marriage. 
He  had  just  betrothexl  me  to  the  son  of 
an  old  Koolenee  Brahmin,  and  he  was 
much  pleased,  and  wished  the  marriage 
to  take  place  very  soon. 

A  Koolenee  is  the  highest  caste  among 
Brahmins,  and  it  is  considered  a  great 
honor  to  be  in  any  way  allied  to  them. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        127 

They  are  frequently  very  poor,  but  usu- 
ally marry  the  daughters  of  rich  babus, 
the  honor  on  one  side  being  consid- 
ered equivalent  to  the  wealth  on  the 
other  side.  These  Koolenees  are  also 
privileged  to  marry  as  many  wives  as 
they  please.  It  is  seldom  that  other 
Hindoos  marry  a  second  wife  during  the 
lifetime  of  the  first,  except  where  the 
first  wife  is  childless,  though  they  gen- 
erally marry  again  a  few  days  after  her 
death.  But  as  soon  as  the  money 
brought  by  the  first  wife  is  expended, 
the  Koolenee  marries  another,  and  so 
on,  until  he  may  have  fifty  wives.  He 
may  live  with  each  one,  when  and  as 
long  as  he  pleases,  or  he  may  never  see 
her  again  from  the  time  he  marries  and 
gets  her  money ;  but  if  he  dies,  every 
one  of  these  poor  girls  is  a  widow,  and 
has  to  undergo  the  widow's  penalties. 
There  is  one  custom,  however,  which  is 


128       KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

favorable  for  the  wife  of  a  Koolenee. 
Except  a  few  short,  occasional  visits  to 
the  mother-in-law's  house,  she  lives  at 
her  father's,  even  while  her  husband  lives 
with  her.  In  her  father's  house  she  is 
subject  to  fewer  restrictions,  and  can 
constantly  see  and  associate  with  her 
own  brothers ;  and  oftentimes  a  very 
warm  love  springs  up  between  brothers 
and  sisters. 

As  I  have  already  told  you  about  our 
marriage  ceremonies,  I  shall  not  describe 
mine.  When  I  was  lifted  up  to  look*  at 
my  husband,  I  trembled  so  violently  that 
I  did  not  dare  to  look  in  his  face.  I 
could  only  see  that  he  was  a  very  tall 
man,  while  I  was  a  very  little  girl,  very 
small  for  my  age. 

After  the  ceremony  was  over,  I  was 
taken  to  my  mother-in-law's  house  for 
three  weeks.  Oh,  what  a  trial  that  was 
to  me !  I,  who  had  always  worn  my 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       129 

sarree  loosely  over  my  shoulders,  was 
obliged  to  have  it  drawn  completely  over 
my  head  and  face,  so  that  it  could  not 
be  seen,  and  I  could  scarcely  see  through 
the  muslin ;  and  instead  of  running  in 
and  out  of  my  mother's  room,  and  talk- 
ing freely  to  her,  as  I  had  been  used,  I 
could  not  move  or  speak  without  the 
permission  of  my  mother-in-law,  who  was 
a  cross,  ugly  old  woman,  in  whose  pres- 
ence I  might  not  sit  down,  or  remove  my 
veil,  or  speak  above  the  slightest  whis- 
per. This  restraint  was  most  irksome  to 
me.  However,  it  was  of  short  duration, 
and  I  never  but  once  afterwards  visited 
my  husband's  family. 

Every  thing  passed  on  quietly  in  the 
house  for  nearly  two  years,  my  husband 
staying  occasionally  for  weeks  together 
at  our  house  ;  then  he  came  to  live  there 
altogether.  He  was  kind  and  gentle, 
and  when  I  could  overcome  my  fear  of 

Ka;doo.  17 


130       KAEDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIKL. 

him,  I  began  in  some  degree  to  like  him. 
But  oh,  how  different  from  the  love  of 
husband  and  wife  in  a  Christian  land, 
where  the  wife  is  the  chosen  companion, 
friend,  comforter,  and  sharer  of  the  hus- 
band's joys  and  sorrows.  I  knew  noth- 
ing of  my  husband's  companions  or  em- 
ployments, except  through  the  barber- 
ess,  who,  being  a  woman  of  low  caste, 
could  go  about  everywhere  and  pick  up 
all  the  gossip,  to  retail  it  in  the  family 
where  she  visited. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        131 


CHAPTEK  XII. 

AND  now  I  am  coming  to  the  saddest 
part  of  my  story.  I  almost  hesitate  to 
tell  it,  for  fear  you -will  think  I  am  sta- 
ting that  which  is  not  true.  Alas,  it  is 
only  too  true  !  We  heard  through  the 
barberess  that  my  father  had  had  a  great 
quarrel  with  an  old  friend  of  his.  They 
had  been  close  friends  from  their  child- 
hood, but  now  Babu  Gopal  had  become 
my  father's  bitter  enemy.  In  some  busi- 
ness transaction  he  thought  my  father 
had  overreached  him,  and  he  had  taken 
an  oath  to  be  revenged  on  him.  Now  I 
must  relate  the  circumstances  as  they 
took  place,  not  as  they  came  to  my 
knowledge. 

Babu  Gopal  had  determined  on  a  plan 


132       KAEDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIRL. 

of  fiendish  revenge ;  while  at  the  same 
time  he  wrote  to  my  father,  begging  him 
by  their  old  friendship  to  let  the  quarrel 
be  forgotten,  and  to  make  friends  again. 
My  father  consented,  and  again  they 
exchanged  visits. 

Now  that  you  may  understand  what 
follows,  you  must  know  that  for  a  Ben- 
gali woman  of  good  caste  to  be  seen  by 
any  man  except  the  gooroo,  or  servants, 
even  by  her.  own  fatheMn-law  or  broth- 
er-in-law, would  be  not  only  a  great 
disgrace  to  herself,  but  it  would  bring 
shame  on  the  whole  family,  especially 
her  husband.  It  is  considered  an  insult 
for  one  babu  to  ask  after  the  health  of 
another  man's  wife ;  it  is  pollution  even 
to  take  her  name  upon  his  lips  ;  such  dis- 
grace can  only  be  wiped  out  by  death. 
I  must  also  tell  you  that  the  dancing- 
girls  who  exhibit  at  the  poojahs  and 
feasts  are  always  the  lowest  and* most 


KAKDOO,    THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       133 

abandoned  characters.  You  will  now 
understand  what  I  am  about  to  relate. 

On  a  certain  day  Babu  Gopal  sent  a 
note  to  my  father,  saying  he  intended  to 
have  a  grand  tomasha  at  his  house  that 
evening,  begging  him  to  come  by  six 
o'clock,  and  he  would  show  him  a  beauti- 
ful dancing-girl  who  had  come  from  the 
country,  and  they  would  have  time  to 
see  and  talk  with  her  before  the  toma- 
sha began.  My  father  consented  to  go. 

In  the  mean  time  Gopal  sent  to  our 
family  gooroo  ;  asked  for  the  loan  of  his 
palky  and  bearers,  which  being  grant- 
ed, he  immediately  despatched  them  to 
my  father's  house,  with  a  message  to 
my  mother,  supposed  to  come  from  the 
gooroo,  that  she  should  repair  to  his 
house.  My  mother  was  feeling  particu- 
larly unwell  that  day,  therefore  disin- 
clined to  go ;  but  as  she  stood  in  great 
fear  of  the  old  Brahmin,  she  felt  obliged 


134       KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

to.  I  braided  her  hair,  fastened  on  her 
jewels,  and  when  she  was  quite  prepared 
I  looked  at  her,  thinking  how  handsome 
she  was,  though  so  quiet  and  still. 

How  shall  I  go  on?  .My  heart  utterly 
fails  rne  in  the  attempt  to  record  what 
follows.  Of  course,  neither  my  mother 
nor  the  rest  of  the  household  had  the 
least  suspicion  of  foul  play,  or  that  she 
was  going  anywhere  but  to  the  gooroo's 
house.  The  thick  red  cloth  was  covered 
over  the  palky;  she  was  lifted  up  and 
carried  away.  Alas,  my  mother!  But 
I  must  relate  the  story  without  yielding 
to  bursts  of  grief. 

My  mother  was  carried  along  for  some 
distance.  At  last  the  palky  was  set 
down,  the  covering  removed,  and  the 
doors  slid  back.  My  mother  supposing 
she  was  in  the  apartment  of  the  gooroo 
to  which  she  had  previously  been  taken, 
.stepped  out,  and  expecting  to  see  only 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       135 

the  gooroo's  wife,  her  chuddah  was  not 
drawn  over  her  face. 

She  immediately  perceived  that  there 
were  three  or  four  other  babus  in  the 
room,  who  had  been  invited,  as  my 
father  had  been,  to  see  the  pretty  dan- 
cing girl.  And  that  my  father's  disgrace 
might  be  the  more  complete,  she  felt  a 
man's  hand  laid  on  her  shoulder,  and 
heard  a  mocking  voice  call  my  father's 
name,  and  say,  "See,  here  is  the  pret- 
ty dancing -girl  I  promised  to  show 
you." 

My  mother  turned  in  utter  bewilder- 
ment and  saw  my  father.  With  a  cry 
for  help  she  rushed  towards  him.  He 
very  quietly  lifted  her  in  his  arms,  re- 
placed her  in  the  palky,  ordering  the 
bearers  to  return  with  her  to  his  house. 
Then  turning  to  Babu  Gopal,  in  a  very 
dignified  manner  he  thanked  him  for  his 
hospitality  and  the  enjoyment  he  had 


136       KARDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

received,  wished  the  other  babus  good 
evening,  without  the  least  appearance  of 
being  discomposed,  and  departed. 

In  the  meantime  my  mother  arrived 
at  home  in  a  state  of  great  fear  and 
alarm,  and  terribly  excited  at  the  griev- 
ous insult  that  had  been  put  upon  her. 
She  well  knew  that  though  perfectly  in- 
nocent, she  had  been  used  as  the  means 
of  bringing  foul  disgrace  upon  my  father 
and  his  family.  She  sat  cowering  in  the 
corner  of  the  room,  trembling  in  every 
limb,  and  good  cause  had  she  for  fear. 
I  remained,  trying  to  soothe  her. 

At  length  my  father's  voice  was  heard 
in  the  verandah.  My  mother  rose  and 
went  to  meet  him  as  he  entered  the 
room ;  but  ere  she  could  utter  one  word, 
my  father  with  a  blow  of  the  fist  struck 
her  to  the  earth.  He  then  jumped  upon 
her  body,  and  with  both  fists  and  feet 
began  beating  her  life  out  of  her. 


KAEDOO,  THE    HINDOO  GIRL.        137 

I  ran  screaming  towards  her,  but  in  an 
instant  was  struck  senseless  to  the  earth. 
Happily  for  me,  I  did  not  recover  con- 
sciousness for  many  hours ;  when  I  did, 
my  grandmother  was  sitting  beside  me. 
I  had  a  dull,  heavy  pain  in  my  head, 
and  on  putting  up  my  hand,  found  it 
bound  up  with  wet  cloths.  I  started  up, 
crying,  "My  mother!"  but  I  was  sternly 
bade  to  lie  down  again,  and  made  to 
swallow  the  draught  she  presented  to 
me.  The  draught  was  a  sleeping  potion, 
and  I  did  not  awake  until  the  evening  of 
the  next  day.  My  brother  Prosonno 
was  sitting  beside  me  when  I  waked, 
fanning  me.  He  spoke  kindly,  and 
asked  if  I  felt  better.  It  was  some  min- 
utes before  I  could  collect  my  scattered 
senses  ;  then  struggling  into  a  sitting 
posture,  and  finding  how  weak  I  was,  I 
burst  into  tears,  begging  him  to  take  me 

into  my  mother's  room. 
18 


138       KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

"  Your  mother — our  mother,"  he  said, 
and  covering  his  face  with  his  hands  he 
sobbed  aloud.  ;'They  did  not  tell  you — 
you  do  not  know,  then,  my  poor  sister, 
that  she  has  departed." 

"Then  my  father  killed  her!"  I  ex- 
claimed ;  and  amid  my  deep  grief  I 
burst  into  the  most  bitter  imprecations 
against  him. 

My  brother  laid  his  hand  upon  my 
mouth  and  stopped  me  ;  and  checking 
with  a  great  effort  his  own  deep  anguish, 
he  said,  "  No,  my  sister,  it  was  right ; 
my  mother  must  die ;  nothing  else  could 
wipe  out  the  disgrace  she  was  exposed 
to.  That  man  had  dared  even  to  touch 
her.  It  was  impossible  she  should  live 
after  this.  Much  as  I  love  my  mother, 
I  could  not  wish  her  to  live  after  being 
so  polluted."  Then  a  fresh  burst  of  an- 
guish choked  his  voice. 

I  cannot  dwell  upon  my  own  grief; 


KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIRL.        139 

suffice  it  to  say,  that  with  my  mother  my 
every  joy  and  happiness  in  life  was  gone, 
for  I  had  no  child  ;  and  when,  a  few 
weeks  later,  my  brother  left  his  home  to 
live  in  a  different  part  of  the  country,  I 
felt  utterly  alone.  I  was  aimless,  hope- 
less, spiritless.  I  lived  in  a  sort  of 
dream,  except  when  the  sight  or  thought 
of  my  father  roused  in  my  bosom  feel- 
ings of  bitter  hate.  All  other  feelings 
seemed  dead. 

At  this  time  all  remembrance  of  what 
my  uncle  Chundro  had  told  me  of  the 
God  of  love  was  utterly  forgotten.  My 
only  thought  of  God  was  of  Kali,  and 
towards  her  my  feelings  were  those  of 
•  fear  and  hate. 

When  I  became  calm  enough  to  be 
told  about  it,  I  heard  that  my  father  had 
continued  his  abuse  of  my  mother,  jump- 
ing upon  her  prostrate  form,  and  striking 
her  until  he  was  sure  life  was  perfectly 


140      KARDOO,   THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

extinct.  Then  four  of  the  servants  were 
told  to  bring  a  bier,  her  body  was  placed 
upon  it,  covered  with  a  sheet,  and  my 
father  and  brother  followed  her  to  the 
burning  ghat.  Then  my  father  bought 
a  costly  pile  of  wood,  the  poor  body  was 
laid  upon  it,  and  more  wood  was  put^ 
over  it.  My  brother  with  a  torch  set 
fire  to  the  pile,  and  when  the  whole  was 
thoroughly  ignited,  they  returned  home, 
leaving  a  servant  to  take  up  the  ashes 
after  the  body  was  consumed,  and  cast 
them  into  the  Ganges.  Thus  perished 
my  beloved  mother. 

In  India  there  is  no  coroner's  inquest, 
no  doctor's  certificate,  no  one  to  examine 
whether  the  body  is  really  dead,  or  how 
it  died.  It  is  nobody's  business  to  make 
any  inquiry,  and  the  family  give  what 
account  they  please,  of  the  death  or  dis- 
appearance of  any  member  of  it.  Oh, 
who  shall  tell  the  deeds  of  darkness  that 


KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.       141 

have  been  committed  there.  Pray,  dear 
young  friends,  that  the  day  may  come 
when  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  may  penetrate  into  every 
one  of  these  abodes. 


142       KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 

I  NEVER  heard  that  my  father  sought 
in  any  way,  to  punish  the  villain  who 
deceived  and  injured  him.  The  inno- 
cent victim  was  slain,  the  disgrace  was 
wiped  out  in  her  blood.  Her  death  was 
made  known  among  our  friends,  but  the 
manner  of  it  was  concealed.  I  do  not 
know  that  her  relations  ever  inquired 
the  cause  of  her  death.  I  have  before, 
said,  it  is  forbidden  to  speak  to  a  babu 
about  the  female  members  of  his  family  ; 
indeed,  had  it  been  known  how  she  died, 
all  would  probably  have  agreed  in  the 
wisdom  of  the  act.  No  enemy  could 
ever'prove  the  crime  against  my  father, 
as  all  traces  of  it  were  soon  destroyed. 
No  man  saw  the  body  after  death,  and 
in  a  short  time  nothing  remained  save  a 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.        143 

few  ashes.  In  cases  of  murder  here,  un- 
less there  are  actual  witnesses,  it  is  im- 
possible to  bring  the  criminals  to  justice. 
As  the  body  is  always  burned,  there  is 
no  means  of  proving  that  the  crime  was 
committed. 

From  that  time  my  father  was  a  chan- 
ged man.  Heretofore  he  was  calm,  dig- 
nified, and  gentle ;  now  he  became  stern 
and  forbidding;  continually  performing 
religious  services,  going  often  to  poo- 
jahs  and  on  pilgrimages  to  different 
places  ;  giving  large  sums  of  money  to 
the  Brahmin  priests  and  fakirs ;  thus 
laying  up,  as  he  thought,  a  store  of  mer- 
its. He  seemed  not  to  have  the  least 
peace  or  ease  except  when  performing 
some  one  of  these  good  works,  while? 
they  w^ere  far  from  satisfying  his  con- 
science. He  became  more  sullen  and 
morose,  until  he  was  dreaded  by  the 
whole  household.  After  my  grandfa- 


144       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

ther's  death  he  became  the  head  or 
guardian,  whom  the  whole  family  were 
obliged  to  obey  implicitly  ;  and  as  he 
wanted  to  make  all  in  the  house  as  sub- 
missive to  the  exactions  of  the  priests  as 
he  was,  our  only  time  of  comfort  was 
when  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage. 

About  six  months  after  my  mother 
had  departed,  as  her  death  was  always 
thus  spoken  of,  my  grandmother  let  a 
piece  of  wood  fall  upon  her  toe,  and  in- 
flammation set  in.  One  of  her  sons  was 
a  doctor,  and  was  attentive  in  doing  all 
he  could  for  her.  But  in  two  weeks  the 
inflammation  spread,  and  after  much  suf- 
fering, gangrene  'set  in.  My  uncle  the 
doctor  declared  there  was  no  hope ;  she 
might  linger  in  great  agony  for  a  week 
or  two,  but  her  recovery  was  a  thing 
impossible.  Upon  hearing  this,  my  fa- 
ther determined  she  should  be  carried 
to  the  Ganges  to  die. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO  GIRL.        145 

My  uncles  opposed  this,  and  they,  be- 
ing younger  than  my  father,  had  seen 
more  of  Christianity,  and  had  read  Chris- 
tian books  ;  were  less  bigoted,  and  be- 
gan to  see  the  evil  of  some  of  the  Hindoo 
practices.  But  my  father,  as  a  strict 
Hindoo,  thought  he  was  attending  to  the 
welfare  of  her  soul,  in  thus  following  the 
ancient  custom.  He  therefore  ordered 
her  to  be  placed  upon  a  bier  similar  to 
those  on  which  the  dead  are  carried,  and 
covered  with  a  sheet,  to  be  taken  to  a 
small  open  shed  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  close  by  the  burning  ghat.  This 
shed  is  expressly  built  to  shelter  the 
dying,  who  are  placed  in  view  of  the 
river,  so  that  their  last  look  may  be  on 
its  holy  waters.  They  are  never  brought 
here  until  they  are  thought  to  be  in  the 
last  extremity  of  suffering;  and  after 
coming  here,  they  must  have  neither 
food,  drink,  .nor  medicine  given  to  them. 

Kardoo.  .  19 


146        KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO   GIRL. 

If  it  should  occur,  as  sometimes  it 
docs,  that  those  who  are  subjected  to 
this  exposure  recover,  they  are  out- 
casts ;  for  they  are  supposed  to  be  so 
wicked  that  the  holy  gods  will  not  re- 
ceive them.  Consequently,  all  their 
friends  disown  them ;  and  even  if  they 
are  Brahmins,  they  lose  all  caste — be- 
come beggars  or  outcasts. 

My  father  was  determined  that  my 
grandmother  should  have  the  benefit  of 
dying  hy  the  holy  river ;  therefore,  in 
spite  of  the  entreaties  of  my  uncles,  she 
was  carried  off  while  in  a  state  of  un- 
consciousness. Here  he  expected  that 
a  few  hours  at  the  utmost  would  termi- 
nate her  existence ;  so  he  sat  down  to 
watch  her,  and  have  her  carried  to  the 
burning  ghat  after  she  expired.  It  was 
the  duty  of  the  oldest  son  to  have  the 
funeral-pyre  prepared ;  to  lay  the  body 
on  it,  and  to  ignite  it  himself. 


KAKDOO,  THE  HINDOO   GIKL.       147 

When  a  night  and  two  days  had 
passed,  and  still  his  mother  lived,  he 
hastened  to  end  her  sufferings.  He  de- 
scended to  the  river,  and  taking  some 
of  the  sacred  mud  of  the  bed  of  the 
river,  put  it  into  her  nostrils  and  her 
mouth.  In  a  few  moments  she  was  suf- 
focated. Thus  having  performed  the 
duties  of  an  affectionate  son,  the  funeral- 
pyre  was  kindled,  and  he  remained  to 
see  the  ashes  cast  into  the  water  ere  he 
returned  home. 

A  short  time  after  this  my  father 
called  me  into  his  room — the  one  my 
grandfather  had  formerly  occupied — 
and  told  me  very  quietly  that  hence- 
forth I  must  never  expect  to  see  my 
husband.  My  father  said  that  as  I  had 
no  children,  my  husband  made  this  the 
excuse  to  marry  again.  Hitherto  my 
father  had  supported  both  my  husband 
and  myself,  sending  me  a  small  weekly 


148       KARDOO,-THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

allowance  for  providing  food,  and  pur- 
chasing a  new  sarree  for  me  when  he 
thought  I  needed  it.  Therefore,  as  my 
husband  had  never  supported  me  or 
made  me  his  companion — and  though 
not  cross  or  unkind,  yet  never  showed 
me  as  much  love  as  he  did  to  a  dog — I 
I  received  this  news  with  perfect  indif- 
ference. It  was  of  little  consequence  to 
me  whether  he  came  or  stayed  away. 

Alas,  when  will  the  day  come  when 
the  Hindoo  woman  shall  become  the  be- 
loved friend  and  companion  of  her  hus- 
band ? 

From  this  time,  for  about  three  years, 
we  lived  a  quiet,  monotonous  life.  One 
day  passed  away  just  like  another.  No 
pleasant  Sundays,  nothing  to  divide  our 
time  from  week  to  week  or  from  month 
to  month,  except  at  three  periods  of  the 
year,  when  we  celebrated  poojahs  to  dif- 
ferent gods.  I  heard  that  my  husband 


KAKDOO,   THE   HINDOO    GIRL.        149 

had  married  three  more  wives,  but  I 
never  saw  him. 

One  day,  when  my  father  had  been 
away  on  one  of  his  pilgrimages  rather 
longer  than  usual,  thinking  he  was  still 
absent,  I  went  into  his  room,  and  found 
him  lying  asleep  on  the  floor.  He  was 
moaning,  his  chuddah  had  fallen  off,  and 
his  back  was  bare.  I  stared  with  dis- 
may on  perceiving  that  it  was  dread- 
fully swollen  and  inflamed,  with  four 
gaping  wounds  in  it,  where  the  flesh 
must  have  been  torn  and  lacerated.  I 
ran  quickly  out  of  the  room ;  met  my 
brother  on  the  verandah,  he  being  on  a 
visit  at  our  house  for  a  few  days.  I  be- 
sought him  to  come  into  my  room  while 
I  told  him  what  I  had  seen. 

"My  sister,  do  not  speak  of  it;  my 
father  will  be  very  angry  if  you  do." 

"Why?  tell  me  what  is  the  matter 
with  him!" 


150       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

"I  will  tell  you;  but  you  must  not 
speak  of  it  again.  My  father  is  a  strange 
man.  Most  men,  when  they  perform 
great  religious  acts,  wish  every  one  to 
know  it ;  but  my  father  cannot  bear  to 
have  others  allude  to  them ;  he  never 
feels  satisfied  with  them,  knowing  that 
we  younger  men,  who  have  had  inter- 
course with  the  English,  think  them  not 
only  foolish,  but  very  wicked.  You 
know  he  is  always  going  on  pilgrimages, 
or  praying,  or  fasting.  He  feels  that 
he,  or  some  of  our  family,  have  done 
very  wicked  things ;  that  the  anger  of 
the  gods  is  continually  shown  towards 
them ;  therefore  he  is  trying  by  every 
.  means  to  appease  their  fury.  Feeling 
that  in  former  days  he  has  been  a  great 
sinner,  he  is  trying  now  to  make  com- 
pensation, but  never  thinks  he  has  done 
enough,  or  that  the  gods  are  pleased 
with  him." 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL.        151 

"My  mother!'7 1  said. 

"Oh,  no,  sister;  no;  you  would  not 
say  my  father  acted  wickedly  about  my 
mother.  No  ;  cruel  and  bitter  as  I  felt 
was  the  loss  of  my  beloved  mother,  it 
was  right.  Nothing  but  her  death- 
instant  death — could  have  wiped  out 
the  disgrace.  My  father  was  right  there  ; 
but  in  some  of  these  old  Hindoo  notions 
I  think  my  father  is  wrong.  We  young 
men  are  better  taught,  and  we  think  dif- 
ferently, from  the  older  ones;  but  he  is 
our  father,  and  we  must  respect  him. 

11  My  father  had  been  attending  lately 
.  a  festival  which,  since  the  English  came 
here,  they  have  tried  to  stop,  though  it 
is  practised  in  many  places. .  It  is  called 
the  churruck,  or  swinging-poojah.  A 
large  beam  with  a  cross-pole,  like  a  gal- 
lows, is  erected ;  from  the  end  of  the 
cross-pole  two  long  ropes  are  suspended  ; 
on  the  other  end  of  the  ropes  sharp  iron 


152       KARDOO,  THE    HLNDOO    GIRL. 

hooks  are  fastened.  Some  poor  super- 
stitious man  is  persuaded  by  the  Brah- 
min priests  that  he  will  do  God  service 
by  having  these  great  hooks  run  into 
his  flesh  under  the  shoulders,  and  then 
being  swung  up  into  the  air.  They  give 
him  some  strong  drugs,  which  quite  in- 
toxicate him;  then,  after  these  hooks 
are  placed,  they  bind  a  cloth  several 
times  around  his  body,  so  that  a  good 
part  of  his  weight  comes  upon  the  cloth. 
He  swings  thus  in -the  air  for^  perhaps 
ten  minutes;  then  he  is  detached,  his 
wounds  are  dressed,  and  another  victim 
takes  his  place.  Now,  my  sister,  the 
gooroo  has  persuaded  our  father  to  en- 
dure this  suffering  to  bring  peace  to  his 
conscience  ;  but  he  would  be  very  angry 
if  one  should  speak  of  it." 

From  this  time  feelings  of  pity  rather 
than  of  hate  grew  up  in  my  heart  tow- 
ards my  poor  father.  But  my  life  was 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        153 

a  very  lonely  one.  While  numbers  were 
in  the  house  with  me,  not  one  heart  loved 
me.  I  only  saw  my  brother  when  busi- 
ness occasionally  brought  him  home. 
My  heart  craved  love  and  sympathy. 
In  playing  with  and  amusing  the  little 
ones  of  the  family,  I  found  my  only 
pleasure  and  occupation. 


20 


154       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

WHEN  I  had  been  married  about  eight 
years,  my  father  came  in  one  day,  call- 
ing for  me  in  a  great  hurry.  He  told 
me  to  dress  myself  quickly  in  my  best 
sarree,  and  come  with  him. 

I  was  much  astonished  at  the  idea  of 
my  father  taking  me  out;  such  a  thing 
had  never  happened  in  my  life  before. 
But  I  must  ask  no  questions  ;  only  obey. 
I  put  on,  therefore,  my  jewels  and  my 
finest  sarree,  and  got  into  the  palky  that 
was  waiting  for  me.  My  father  saw  me 
get  in,  covered  the  red  cloth  over  me, 
and  I  was  borne  away.  Where  I  was 
going  I  knew  not. 

Thus  was  I  carried  for  many  hours. 
I  knew  my  father  was  near,  for  occa- 
sionally I  heard  his  voice  giving  direc- 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.       155 

tions  to  the  bearers.  Then  the  palky 
was  put  down ;  and  from  what  I  heard, 
for  I  could  see  nothing,  I  found  we  were 
in  a  boat,  soon  gliding  over  the  waters. 
At  last  my  father  opened  the  palky, 
gave  me  some  sweetmeats  and  a  lota  of 
water,  but  he  would  not  answer  my 
questions,  saying  I  would  know  soon 
enough.  At  length  I  fell  asleep,  wa- 
kening only  when  I  felt  the  palky  again  • 
lifted  up  and  borne  away.  After  some 
time  being  carried  thus,  the  palky  was 
set  down.  My  father  opened  the  door, 
and  told  me  to  get  out.  It  was  very 
late  at  night,  but  the  moon  made  it  light 
enough  for  me  to  see  that  we  were  far 
away  from  the  city,  on  the  edge  of  a  jungle. 
My  father  took  me  into  a  little  hut 
that  was  at  the  side  of  the  road ;  bade 
me  sit  down,  while  he  seated  himself 
opposite.  He  then  said  our  family  were 
becoming  very  degenerate  and  bad; 


156       KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

they  were  deserting  the  good  old  cus- 
toms of  their  fathers  ;  that  he  had  been 
trying  for  years  to  avert  from  them  the 
anger  of  the  gods ;  but  it  seemed  as  if 
they  would  not  be  appeased.  Now,  he 
said,  the  time  was  come  when  I  should 
perform  my  part  by  the  sacrifice  of  my- 
self, and  thus  not  only  gain  felicity,  but 
confer  a  lasting  benefit  on  my  family. 

As  my  father  spoke  I  started  up  in 
horror,  not  knowing  what  he  was  about 
to  do  with  me. 

He  sternly  commanded  me  to  be 
seated.  He  then  told  me  my  husband 
had  died  of  cholera,  therefore  he  had 
brought  me  to  perform  the  suttee,  which 
was  not  only  what  was  my  duty,  but 
should  be  my  pleasure.*  He  said  that 
each  of  the  other  wives  were  anxious  to 
be  the  privileged  one.  It  was  consid- 

*  The  suttee  is  the  immolation  of  a  widow,  by  being 
burned  alive  on  the  funeral  pyre  with  the  body  of  her 
deceased  husband. 


KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        157 

ered  a  much  greater  privilege,  because 
.my  husband  was  a  Koolenee  Brahmin. 
But  as  Lwas  the  first  wife,  though  I  had 
not  seen  him  for  several  years,  I  was 
entitled  to  this  high  honor;  and  on  no 
account  would  my  father  allow  any  other 
to  take  my  place. 

Oh,  the  agony  of  that  night !  I  flung 
myself  at  my  father's  feet,  imploring  him 
to  save  me  from  such  a  fate,  such  a  fear- 
ful death. 

He  spurned  me  from  him  in  indigna- 
tion that  one  of  his  family  should  be  so 
degenerate,  so  wanting  in  courage  as  to 
prefer  a  life  of  scorn,  ignominy,  and 
shame — for  such  would  be  my  lot,  if  I 
refused  the  suttee — to  the  prospect  of  so 
glorious  and  triumphant  a  death,  with  an 
immediate  entrance  into  heaven,  instead 
of  going  into  the  body  of  some  unclean 
animal. 

All  he  said  to  quiet  me  was  in  vain. 


158       KARDOO,   THE   HINDOO  GIRL. 

I  screamed  with  fear,  tore  my  hair,  beat 
myself  about  until  I  fell  exhausted  on 
the  floor.  I  had  nothing  to  live  for — no 
hope ;  but  still  I  was  young,  I  was  in 
health,  and  life  itself  was  sweet.  This 
death !  ah,  it  was  fearful ;  and  then  the 
dread  unknown  beyond ! 

While  I. lay  exhausted  in  the  corner 
of  the  room  I  heard  voices,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  some  men  came  in  bearing  a 
bier.  My  father  called  me  to  come  and 
look  at  my  husband,  but  I  would  not 
move.  He  then  lifted  me  in  his  arms, 
and  bore  me  to  the  side  of  the  corpse. 
The  work  of  dissolution  had  progressed 
so  far  that  I  could  not  recognize  him 
who  was  once  my  husband.  A  heavy, 
sickly  odor  proceeded  from  the  body. 
My  father  then  left  the  hut,  fastening  me 
in,  and  went  to  give  orders  and  oversee 
the  preparations  of  the  funeral  pyre, 
leaving  me  with  the  dead  body. 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.        159 

Oh.  what  a  night  that  was!  no  hope 
for  time,  no  hope  for  eternity ;  for  if  the 
sacrifice  is  not  made  willingly,  the  poor 
sufferer  has  to  undergo  some  amount  of 
future  punishment.  It  was  in  vain  I 
sought  to  escape  from  the  hut.  It  was 
too  well  secured ;  and  if  I  could  have 
gotten  outside,  I  knew  not  where  to  flee. 

At  length  the  day  began  to  dawn.  I 
knew  then  I  had  but  an  hour 'to  live; 
but  by  my  previous  violence  I  had  so 
exhausted  myself,  that  resistance  seemed 
no  longer  possible  ;  they  did  with  me  as 
they  pleased.  My  father  and  the  gooroo 
came  into  the  hut,  and  gave  me  a  lota  of 
water  to  drink.  I  eagerly  seized  it,  took 
a  long  draught  of  it,  and  as  I  was  very 
thirsty.  As  I  put  the  lota  down,  I  re- 
member thinking  the  water  had  a  strange 
taste.  In  a  few  minutes  I  began  to  feel 
as  if  in  a  dream.  I  felt  as  if  I  were 
walking  in  the  air,  could  dance  and 


1GO       KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

sing,  and  would  have  done  all  sorts  of 
foolish  things  if  I  had  not  been  re- 
strained. 

The  Brahmin  priests  are  very  skilful 
in  the  use  of  drugs ;  and  doubtless,  when 
the  poor  victims  have  met  this  dreadful 
fate  with  composure,  or  even  exultation, 
as  has  sometimes  been  described,  it 'has 
been  from  the  effects  of  these  powerful 
narcotics.  Certainly  in  this  there  is 
mercy  ;  it  deprives  death  of  its  worst 
terrors,  those  of  the  mind,  and  probably 
in  some  cases  the  victim  expires  without 
much  suffering.  If  the  wood  of  the  pyre 
was  green,  she  might  die  of  suffocation 
ere  the  flames  reached  her  body. 

After  the  sun  rose,  I  was  taken  out 
and  seated  near  the  pyre.  The  dead 
body  was  laid  beside  me,  with  the  head 
placed  on  my  lap.  When  I  lifted  my 
eyes,  I  was  startled  to  see  a  crowd  of 
human  faces  all  gazing  at  me.  I  had 


KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.       161 

never  seen  so  many  men  before,  and  I 
drew  my  chuddah  over  my  face  in  shame. 
Near  me  were  a  number  of  priests  with 
gongs,  trumpets,  and  cymbals,  with 
which  they  made  a  deafening  noise,  so 
that  if  the  victim  screamed,  the  sound  t>f 
her  voice  would  be  completely  over- 
powered. 

As  I  have  said,  I  sat  with  the  ghastly 
head  of  my  husband  in  my  lap,  the  crowd 
growing  more  dense.  Now  the  fatal 
moment  had  arrived ;  the  priests  had 
gone  through  all  their  prayers  and  cere- 
monies. My  father  approached,  told  me 
to  take  off  my  jewels  and  chains,  and 
give  them  to  him.  Afterwards  they  were 
given  to  the  gooroo  and  other  priests. 
While  I  did  this  the  corpse  was  lifted  up. 
and  laid  on  the  wood ;  my  father,  taking 
me  by  the  arm,  assisted  me  to  mount  the 
pyre. 

The  fear  of  the  eyes  of  those  men  for 

Karaoo.  21 


162       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

the  instant  overpowered  my  dread  of 
the  flames.  The  dose  they  had  given 
me  was  not  strong  enough  to  produce 
drowsiness,  as  they  expected,  and  just 
then  its  effects  began  to  pass  away, 
le'aving  every  feeling  and  sensation  more 
intensified  than  before.  I  lay  down, 
however,  as  my  father  bade  me,  placed 
my  arm  under  my  husband's  head,  and 
closed  my  eyes. 

Amid  a  tumultuous  noise,  beating  of 
drums,  clashing  of  cymbals,  blowing  of 
horns,  shrieks  and  shouts  from  the  priests, 
my  father  took  a  lighted  torch  and  ap- 
plied it  to  the  four  corners  of  the  pile. 
The  wood  being  dry,  soon  began  to 
blaze  furiously.  I  bore  the  anguish  as 
long  as  I  could,  then  tossing  my  hus- 
band's body  from  me,  I  flung  myself 
from  the  pile  on  to  the  ground.  Instant- 
ly my  father  and  several  priests  lifted 
me,  and  with  many  execrations  put  me 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL.       163 

again  upon  the  funeral  pyre ;  but  once 
more,  in  the  intensity  of  my  sufferings, 
I  leaped  up,  and  sprang  to  the  ground. 
In  falling,  I  must  have  struck  my  head 
and  become  unconscious,  for  I  knew  noth- 
ing for  several  days. 

On  recovering  my  senses  I  found  my- 
self lying  on  a  clean  bed,  a  white  sheet 
over  me,  and  on  a  table  were  glasses  and 
articles  I  had  never  seen  before.  A 
pleasant-looking  Bengali  girl  was  sitting- 
near,  reading,  and  dressed  differently 
from  any  I  had  seen.  I  looked  in  per- 
fect bewilderment,  then  asked,  "Where 
am  I  ?" 

Nistarenee,  the  girl,  started  at  the 
sound  of  my  voice,  came  to  look  at  me, 
and  then  said,  "  Oh,  you  are  better.  I 
will  call  the  ma'am  sahib." 

In  a  few  minutes  she  returned  with  a 
white  lady.  Dear  lady !  how  I  shall  love 
you  to  all  eternity.  She  came  up  to  my 


KARDOO,  THE  HINDOO  GIRL. 

bed,  looked  at  me  with  a  kind,  loving 
expression;  but  I  covered  my  head  in 
fear  and  terror,  for  I  had  never  seen  a 
white  person  before. 

" Poor  child!  You  see  she  is  afraid 
of  me.  Nistarenee,  you  must  attend  to 
her  until  she  knows  me  better,  and  learns 
not  to  fear  me.  I  see  my  very  presence 
excites  her.  I  will  leave  her." 

As  she  spoke  in  Bengali,  I  understood 
what  she  said.  I  pulled  away  the  cov- 
ering, and  watched  her  as  she  left  the 
room ;  then  I  eagerly  demanded  again, 
''Where  am  I  ?  Am  I  with  Christians  ?" 

"You  must  not  talk  now,  dear;  take 
this  drink  and  go  to  sleep,  and  when  you 
wake,  feeling  better,  I  will  tell  you  all." 

"Am- 1  with  those  polluted,  degraded 
Christians  of  whom  I  have  heard  so 
much?  and  do  you  want  to  make  me 
drink  their  vile  drink,  and  lose  my 
caste  ?" 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIEL.        165 

She  told  me  that  I  had  been  very  ill ; 
during  my  unconscious  hours  I  had  drank 
many  times. 

I  then  angrily  struck  the  cup  out  of 
her  hand,  and  burst  out  crying.  She 
tried  to  soothe  me,  arid  finally  I  fell 
asleep  from  sheer  exhaustion.  On  awa- 
king I  called  for  water,  being  very 
thirsty.  I  drained  the  cup  unconscious- 
ly; then  dashing  it  away,  exclaimed,  "I 
am  for  ever  lost !"  and  screamed  so  vio- 
lently that  poor  Nistarenee  was  fright- 
ened, and  brought  in  the  ma'am  sahib. 

The  dear  lady  approached  my  bed, 
saying  in  a  kind,  calm,  very  decided 
tone,  "My  child,  you  must  stop  this  in- 
stantly and  listen  to  me." 

In  a  moment  my  sobs  were  stifled ;  I 
lay  still  as  death.  Nor  when  she  un- 
covered me,  and  began  to  dress  the 
wounds  I  now  became  aware  of,  did  I 
move  a  muscle  or  utter  a  sound. 


166        KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

She  then  smoothed  back  my  hair, 
caressingly  patted  my  cheeks  and  hands. 
"And now,  my  child,'7  she  said,  "I  think 
it  best  to  tell  you  why  and  how  you 
came  here,  as  you  seem  to  have  forgot- 
ten about  it.  I  think,  if  you  know  all,  it 
will  make  you  better  satisfied  to  remain 
quiet." 

She  said  that  her  husband  and  herself 
were  missionaries ;  that  the  night  before 
the  suttee  occurred,  the  magistrate  of  the 
place  received  a  notice  of  the  fact.  He 
informed  her  husband,  the  padre  sahib, 
as  the  missionary  is  always  called,  that 
he  was  going  with  a  company  of  soldiers 
to  the  place  in  order  to  prevent  it,  and 
asked  him  to  go  with  them.  They  ar- 
rived, and  rode  into  the  midst  of  the 
crowd  just  when  I  had  flung  myself  the 
second  time  out  of  the  flames. 

As  soon  as  the  magistrate  arrived  the 
crowd  scattered,  and  were  soon  lost  in 


KARDOO,  THE    HINDOO    GIRL.        167 

the  jungle.  These  were  but  spectators, 
and  could  not  be  punished.  The  only 
guilty  person  they  succeeded  in  captur- 
ing was  an  old  gooroo,  whom  they  sent 
to  prison  for  seven  years.  My  father 
could  nowhere  be  found. 

In  the  mean  time  the  missionary  placed 
me  on  the  bier,  which  had  borne  the  dead 
body  of  my  husband.  He  dipped  some 
rags  in  oil  that  he  brought  with  him, 
bound  them  on  my  wounds,  and  then  car- 
ried me  to  his  mission  station.  Here  I  lay 
for  many  days  between  life  and  death, 
ere  my  wounds  began  to  heal ;  and  now 
the  dear  lady  called  upon  me  to  thank 
the  good  God  who  had  been  so  kind  to 
me. 

When  I  heard  all  this,  I  looked  at  her 
with  astonishment.  "Yes,"  I  said,  "I 
remember  it  all ;  but  why  do  you  come 
near  me?  I  am  a  pariah,*  an  outcast. 

°  If  a  woman  escapes  after  being  brought  to  the  suttee, 


1G8       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

Do  n't  you  know  you  will  be  polluted  by 
touching  me  ?" 

"My  poor  child,"  the  dear  lady  said, 
still 'stroking  my  face,  "I  do  not  feel 
polluted  by  touching  you  ;  and  you  know 
among  your  own  people  you  have  lost- 
caste,  and  may  not  go  back  to  them. 
Being  among  Christians  now,  cannot 
harm  you,  so  try  to  get  well;  and  re- 
member there  is  no  one  here  who  despi- 
ses you,  or  thinks  that  your  touch  pol- 
lutes them." 

I  caught  her  hand,  held  it  to  my  lips, 
and  said :  "  You  are  like  an  angel  j*  but 
will  not  all  these  Bengalees  hate  and 
despise  me  ?" 

she  is  considered  the  vilest  outcast.  No  member  of  her 
family,  not  even  her  own  child,  dare  speak  to  her,  or  if 
dying,  give  her  a  drop  of  water.  She  generally  perishes 
in  the  utmost  misery,  and  is  supposed  to  pass  after  death 
into  the  body  of  some  reptile ;  and  any  one  who  shall 
speak  to  or  help  her,  will  likewise  inhabit  the  body  of 
some  animal. 

*  The  Hindoos  have  a  faint  idea  of  some  sort  of  supe- 
rior heavenly  beings. 


KAKDOO,  THE    HINDOO  GIRL.        1(J9 

"No,  DO,  my  child;  they  will  do  all 
they  can  to  help  you ;  to  teach  you  that 
we  are  all  children  of  one  great  God—- 
the God  of  love.  They  will  tell  you 
that  we  are  all  sinners,  and  polluted  in 
God's  eyes,  as  well  as  you ;  but  that 
Jesus  Christ,  God's  Son,  will  take  away 
all  sins,  both  yours  and  mine." 

"Jesus  Christ!  that  was  God's  Son. 
Uncle  Chundro  told  me  about  him,  long, 
long  ago.  But  I  forget;  tell  me  more 
about  him.'7 

"I  will,  my  child ;  but  you  have  talked 
enough.  Eest  now  ;  and  before  you  sleep 
say  this  little  prayer:  'Lord  Jesus,  for- 
give my  sins,  and  help  me  to  know 
thee.' " 

After  this  I  always  longed  for  the 
presence  of  the  kind  lady  who  addressed 
me  as  "dear  child!"  and  no  one  had 
done  that,  since  my  mother's  death. 

Thus  I  associated  her  with  my  mother, 
22 


170        KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

and  therefore  her  words  had  greater 
weight  with  me,  than  the  words  of  any 
one  else.  Oh,  ye  who  would  win  souls 
to  Christ,  be  wise  in  this,  that  ye  win 
by  love. 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        171 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

AND  now  my  story  of  Kardoo,  the 
Hindoo  zenana-girl,  is  nearly  finished. 
It  was  many  months  before  I  got  quite 
well  j  for  the  burns  I  received  by  the 
fire  were  very  deep,  and  have  made  me 
a  cripple  for  life. 

During  this  time  the  dear  lady  and 
Nistarenee  took  pains  to  enlighten  my 
dark  mind.  They  taught  me  to  read 
and  to  sew;  and  though  I  learned  the 
folly  of  idolatry,  yet  it  was  long,  long 
before  I  became  a  real  Christian  ;  before 
I  could  "receive  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.'7  I  was  continually  trying  to  do 
something  by  which  I  could  merit  for- 
giveness. I  would  sometimes  think, 
Oh,  if  I  could  be  more  sorry  for  my 
sins — if  I  could  repent  more  bitterly — 


172        KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

could  only  love  Christ  more  !  I  wanted 
to  do  something  to  earn  God's  forgive- 
ness, instead  of  going  to  him  just  as  I 
was,  and  believing  that,  although  guilty, 
he  had  promised  to  receive  me  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  take  my  heart  and 
cleanse  it  and  sanctify  it  himself,  and 
make  me  what  he  would  have  me  to  be. 
My  poor  heathen  notions  of  trying  to 
merit  pardon  clung  to  me ;  and  what  is 
strange,  I  have  found  among  those  who 
were  born  and  lived  in  a  Christian  land 
the  same  heathen  ideas  of  thinking  they 
must  do  something,  by  prayer,  repent- 
ance, or  almsgiving,  to  merit  the  favor 
of  God. 

I  can  well  remember  the  day  when  a 
flood  of  light  poured  in  upon  my  soul. 
It  was  a  beautiful  Sabbath  evening,  some 
months  after  my  restoration  to  health. 
I  had  been  sitting  thinking  over  all  God's 
dealings  with  me  in  my  past  life  ;  feeling 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIEL.        173 

that  my  heart  should  be  full  of  love  and 
deep  gratitude  to  him,  for  all  his  mercies 
to  me ;  wishing,  "  Oh,  if  I  could  do  some 
great  thing  for  him !  then  I  should  be- 
lieve I  was  really  God's  child  ;  received 
and  forgiven  by  him." 

That  evening  our  dear  padre  sahib 
preached  to  us  from  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son.  After  describing  the  ini- 
quity and  degradation  of  the  lost  one, 
he  told  us  that  when  "he  came  to  him- 
self" he  had  not  correct  views  of  his 
father.  He  did  not  put  perfect  trust 
and  confidence  in  that  father's  forgiving 
love.  And  he  said:  "I  will  go  to  him 
and  say,  Let  me  be  as  one  of  thy  hired 
servants."  He  wanted  to  work  out  by 
his  own  good  conduct,  a  title  to  his  fa- 
ther's forgiveness.  This  is  always  the 
awakened  sinner's  first  thought — "I 
must  do  something."  But  when  he 
comes  to  that  father's  presence,  and 


174       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

finds  that,  degraded  as  be  is,  his  father 
runs  to  meet  him— when  he  feels  the 
fond  clasp  of  his  arms  and  the  warm  kiss 
upon  his  cheek,  then  he  fully  realizes 
that  father's  love.  And  what  does  he 
say  now  ?  He  confesses  his  sin  and  re- 
lents, saying:  "Father,  I  have  sinned; 
I  am  not  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son." 
Not  one  word  does  he  add  about  being 
a  hired  servant,  working  for  forgive- 
ness. He  feels  that  it  would  wound 
that  fond,  loving  heart,  for  an  instant  to 
distrust  the  free  pardon  or  the  tender 
love  lavished  upon  him.  He  receives 
the  father's  expressions  of  love  with  a 
heart  too  full  to  speak.  He  immedi- 
ately takes  the  place  of  a  child.  He 
has  still  much  about  him  of  evil  habits, 
of  the  ragged  garments,  and  of  the  pol- 
lution he  has  contracted  in  his  wander- 
ings. His  father  does  not  wait  until  he 
was  arrayed  in  clean  garments  before  he 


KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        175 

acknowledged  him.  Now  that  he  has 
owned  and  received  him  as  his  child,  he 
will  see  that  the  ragged,  filthy  garments 
are  exchanged  for  those  befitting  his 
son. 

Thus  our  heavenly  Father  runs  to 
meet  us,  when  he  sees  us  returning. 
He  receives  us  just  as  we  are — his  chil- 
dren. And  when  he  has  welcomed  us, 
he  takes  off  our  filthy  garments,  and 
puts  on  us  the  robes  of  Christ's  right- 
eousness. Then  he  expects  from  us  the 
fond  love  of  children,  not  the  duty  of 
hired  servants.  Believe  God  ;  trust 
him  ;  take  him  at  his  word. 

It  was  during  this  discourse  that  a 
flood  of  light  poured  into  my  soul. 
From  that  time  I  felt  that  God  was  my 
Father — God  in  Christ — and  that  I  was 
indeed  his  reconciled  child.  I  no  longer 
wanted  to  do  some  great  thing  to  prove 
my  love  for  him ;  but  1  felt  that  each 


176       KARDOO,  THE   HINDOO    GIRL. 

little  act  and  word  should  show  forth  his 
love  and  praise.  Every  duty  seemed 
now  different,  because  I  was  doing  it  to 
please  my  loving  Father. 

During  my  long  sickness,  I  became  a 
proficient  in  sewing,  and  my  work  was 
much  praised.  When  I  recovered,  I 
I  told  the  ma'am  sahib  that  though  I 
could  do  little  requiring  active  exercise, 
I  could  help  her  in  teaching  the  little 
ones  to  sew ;  for  we  had  a  large  orphan- 
school  on  the  mission  premises.  At 
first  I  used  to  get  very  impatient  with 
the  stupidity  of  the  children ;  but  when 
I  remembered  they  were  our  Father's 
little  ones,  that  I  was  teaching  them  for 
Him,  the  work  seemed  lighter,  and  many 
a  happy  hour  have  I  since  passed  in 
teaching  them  Bible  stories  and  telling 
them  of  the  love  of  Christ.  How  often 
have  I  prayed  that  the  day  may  soon 
come  when  of  India  it  may  be  gaid: 


KAJRDOO,    THE   HINDOO    GIHL.        177 

"And  all  her  sons  are  taught  of  God," 
and  when  every  parent  shall  delight  to 
tell  to  his  children  the  words  of  Christ. 

I  had  been  living  very  peacefully  and 
happily,  and  I  trust  usefully,  in  my 
home  at  the  mission  station  for  some 
years.  I  had  not  heard  any  thing  of 
my  family  during  this  time ;  but  I  knew 
I  was  degraded,  was  an  outcast  from 
them,  that  they  never  wished  to  see  or 
hear  from  me ;  and  all  I  could  do  was 
to  pray  for  them.  I  often  thought  of 
my  poor  father,  wondered  if  he  was  still 
going  on  pilgrimages,  still  trying  to  in- 
flict pain  on  his  body  to  atone  for  the 
sin  of  his  soul. 

One  day  while  sitting  at  work,  I  saw 
our  padre  sahib,  who  had  been  away  for 
-a  few  days,  come  into  the  compound,* 

0  The  houses  of  Europeans  in  India  stand  in  a  garden 
or  yard  with  a  high  wall  around.  Inside  the  walls  are 
also  the  servants*  houses,  stables,  etc.,  and  on  mission 

Kaidoo.  23 


178       KARDOO,  JTHE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

and  with  him  were  some  men  carrying 
what  appeared  to  be  a  dead  body  on  a 
bier.  There  was  a  little  house  near  by, 
unoccupied ;  into  this  they  carried  the 
man,  laid  him  on  a  bed,  and  in  a  little 
while  after  I  saw  the  doctor  go  in. 

At  evening  worship,  the  padre  sahib 
told  us  that  on  his  return  from  his  tour 
he  had  passed  through  the  village  of 

S ,*  forgetting  it  was  the  time  of  the 

feast  of  Juggernaut.  While  he  waited 
to  let  the  car  and  the  crowd  pass  him, 
two  wretched  jogees,  or  fakirs,  flung 
themselves  in  front  of  the  ponderous 
machine.  "  It  passed  over  them  instant- 
ly. The  police  came,  scattered  the  crowd 
right  and  left,  but  it  was  too  late  ;  one 
was  dead,  the  other  had  both  his  legs 

premises,  tlie  church,  schoolhouse,  etc.,  all  stand  within 
these  walls.  This  is  called  the  compound. 

*  A  place  sacred  to  Juggernaut,  where  a  large  car  is 
always  kept,  and  where  the  feast  is  celebrated  every  year 
by.  great  crowds,  with  rejoicings,  though  the  gooroos  now 
try  to  prevent  the  sacrifice  of  human  life. 


KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        179 

crushed  in  a  frightful  manner.  The  po- 
lice did  not  know  what  to  do  with  him, 
and  no  one  knew  any  thing  of  him.  So 
our  padre  sahib  had  him  brought  to  our 
house. 

He  said  he  had  called  a  Brahmin  to 
come  and  cook  for  him,*  and  told  us  all, 
that  we  must  be  careful  not  to  go  near 
or  touch  the  cooking  vessels  that  were 
used  for  him,  as  he  knew  the  man  would 
rather  starve  to  death  than  eat  any 
thing,  that  a  Christian  had  touched. 
"Some,  of  you  may  go  in  to  see  him,  if 
you  like,7'  he  added,  "and  point  him  to 
the  only  Atonement  for  sin.  The  doc- 
tor tells  me  he  cannot  recover,  but  he 
may  live  for  weeks,  perhaps  months." 

The  next  day  I  went  in  to  see  the 
sick  man.  His  hair  was  shaved  from 
his  head,  except  one  patch  behind.  This 

°  Orthodox  Hindoos  would  rather  starve  than  eat  food 
cooked  by  any  other  than  a  Brahmin. 


180       KAKDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIKL. 

was  allowed  to  grow  long,  and  was  plait- 
ed in  several  small  braids.  Each  braid 
was  matted  together  with  the  excre- 
ments of  the  cow.  This,  also,  mixed 
with  earth,  was  smeared  in  spots  all 
over  his  body.  His  only  clothing  was 
a  small  scrap  of  filthy  rag  around  his 
loins. 

In  this  disgusting  object,  I  recognized 
my  once  noble-looking  father.  With  a 
loud  cry  I  rushed  towards  him.  He 
then  recognized  me,  and  with  expres- 
sions of  extreme  loathing,  he  ordered  me 
away  from  him. 

"What!  a  vile  outcast  like  you  dare 
to  approach  one  so  holy  as. I!"  With 
many  curses  he  bade  me  begone,  and 
not  pollute  the  air  he  breathed  with  my 
presence.  I  hastily  retired  in  deep 
grief.  Our  sahib  told  me  afterwards  I 
could  pray  for  him,  but  in  the  present 
condition  of  his  mind  I  had  better  not 


KAEDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL.        131 

see  him,  as  even  the  sight  of  me  threw 
him  into  such  paroxysms  of  rage,  that 
they  feared  it  would  kill  him.  Thus  I 
had  to  be  content  with  the  knowledge 
that  he  was  visited  by  older  and  more 
experienced  Christians  than  myself,  and 
that  they  would  do  all  they  could  for  his 
soul.  I  could  only  pray  for  him. 

He  lingered  for  three  months.  One 
day  I  was  told  that  he  asked  for  me  :  I 
went  hastily  into  his  hut.  He  held  out 
his  hand.  I  took  it  eagerly,  kissing  it, 
and  knelt  by  his  side.  He  had  changed 
much,  since  his  first  appearance  among 
us.  He  had  permitted  the  filthy,  mat- 
ted hair  to  be  cut  off,  his  head  and  body 
to  be  washed,  though  this  must  be  done 
in  Ganges  water,  and  his  body  was  more 
decently  covered  than  before,  with  a 
clean  cloth. 

He  laid  his  hand  upon  my  head,  and 
said,  "  We  are  both  wicked  sinners,  my 


182       KABDOO,  THE   HINDOO   GIRL. 

child  ;  I  feel  that  all  I  have  done  has 
not  won  for  me  the  favor  of  the  great 
God ;  but  they  tell  me,  that  his  Son  died 
to  take  away  our  sins.  God  grant  it 
may  be  so.'7  He  fell  back  dead. 

My  grief  was  deep  for  my  father, 
though  it  was  riot  destitute  of  hope ;  for 
I  have  strong  faith  that  through  the 
blood  of  Christ  I  shall  meet  my  father, 
my  uncle  Chundro,  and  Berash  in  heav- 
en. We  know  our  blessed  Saviour  has 
said,  "To  whom  little  is  given,  of  them 
little  will  be  required.'7 

How  my  heart  leaps  with  joy,  in  the 
hope  that  light  is  now  dawning  upon  my 
poor  heathen  sisters.  Kind  ladies  from 
Christian  lands,  even  from  far-off  Amer- 
ica, are  spending  their  days  in  our  pris- 
on homes,  telling  of  Jesus  and  his  love. 
Alas,  my  beautiful  mother,  that  you  did 
not  live  to  hear  these  sweet  words,  and 


KA11DOO,  THE.  HINDOO   GIKL.       183 

to  teach  to  us,  your  children,  the  true 
worship  of  the  true  God. 

And  now  my  tale  is  told.  If  I  ever 
meet  you  in  heaven,  I  shall  reach  it  in 
the  same  way  you  will — as  a  poor  sinner, 
saved  by  grace.  Let  me,  as  a  daughter 
of  India,  thank  you  that  you  are  work- 
ing, for  her  deliverance  from  the  gross 
darkness  of  heathenism ;  and  to  your 
work,  let  me  beg  you,  join  your  earnest 
prayers  that  her  children  may  soon  turn 
from  their  dumb  idols  to  serve  the  liv- 
ing God.  Each  soul  brought  to  God  by 
your  prayers,  will  adorn  as  a  bright 
jewel  the  crown  that  you  will  cast  at  the 
Redeemer's  feet. 

That  every  one  who  reads  these  pages 
may  have  many  such  bright  .jewels  in 
their  heavenly  diadem,  is  the  earnest 
prayer  of  Kardoo,  the  once  Hindoo  ze- 
nana-girl. 


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1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals    and    recharges    may    be    made    4    days 

prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


MAY  09  1995 


YB  07142 


H 


£$*/ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


